Clean-power investment from the Gulf — and particularly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE — into Africa is surging, but could have even greater impact were it targeted more towards power infrastructure, a new report argued. The two Gulf powers (and, increasingly, rivals) have in recent years driven money overwhelmingly into intermittent-renewable energy generation and hydrogen projects, according to Clean Air Task Force research shared first with Semafor.
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi unveiled some $175 billion of funding pledges between 2010 and 2024, largely as investments rather than loans, which CATF noted was a friendlier form of financial relationship. But, CATF’s Director of Climate Policy Innovation David Yellen said, the two countries could have greater impact — environmentally, economically, and geopolitically — if they shifted the focus of their state-linked funds to financing grid improvements and transmission infrastructure: “Our hope is that the sources of capital that can be more patient… go into projects that enable knock-on investment,” he said.