KEY POINTS
- Guterres says Africa can be a renewable superpower.
- He warns debt should not drown development.
- Leaders push for investment over foreign aid.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared that Africa has all it needs to become a “renewable superpower,” urging a surge of global investment in clean energy across the continent.
Speaking at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on Thursday, Guterres said Africa’s abundant sun, wind, and mineral resources could anchor a new era of sustainable growth. The three-day forum in Yokohama brought together African leaders as Japan positioned itself as a counterweight to China’s long-standing economic footprint on the continent.
Africa can be a renewable superpower
“We must mobilise finance and technology, so that Africa’s natural wealth benefits African people,” Guterres told delegates. “We must build a thriving renewables and manufacturing base across the continent.”
He stressed that green power would not only lower energy costs but also diversify supply chains and drive global decarbonisation.
Debt crisis weighs on development
The UN chief warned that Africa’s progress is being squeezed by rising debt burdens. “Debt must not drown development,” he said, calling for increased concessional finance and greater lending capacity from multilateral development banks.
China’s heavy infrastructure investments over the past decade have left many African countries with mounting repayment obligations, while Western aid has shrunk, especially following the dismantling of USAID programs during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Leaders call for investment over aid
Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s William Ruto attended the talks. Ruto announced on X that Kenya was negotiating with Toyota to provide 5,000 e-mobility vehicles, a further step he described as part of the country’s clean energy push.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to train 30,000 Africans in artificial intelligence over the next three years and floated the idea of a Japan-Africa Economic Partnership. Furthermore Tinubu and Ramaphosa both stressed the need to shift away from dependency on aid toward long-term investment partnerships.
