AFRICA NEEDS NEW ENERGY

Alternative energy key to African development: UN
March 22, 2007 (AFP via Yahoo News)

WHO
UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. UN-HABITAT executive director Anna Tibaijuka.

WHAT
African countries must reduce their dependence on oil and begin to seek bold energy alternatives, wind, solar and geothermal energies, so the continent can emerge from a cycle of poverty.

WHEN

WHERE
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development.in Nairobi, Kenya.

WHY
Tapping into the continent's vast resources and developing wind, solar and geothermal energies will have long-lasting economic and environmental benefits for Africa, where 90 percent of people in rural areas do not have access to modern forms of energy.

QUOTES
- Kenya alone could save up to 33 million dollars annually if it switched to renewable energy and improved the management of the country's resources, [UN-HABITAT executive director Anna Tibaijuka] added.
- "As we look at Africa's energy needs, we are in danger of locking Africa into a development path that will lock them into being behind the rest of the world. Let us begin to take wind, solar and geothermal energy seriously," said Steiner.