Last year, UN published “Greening Africa’s Industrialization”, where they invited governments to invest in renewable energies. This green breakthrough – which African Union called “Vision 2063” – would offer great expectations to a continent having sun, water, wind and land. Today these resources are useful only for 5% of African energy demand and for years most of investments have been used to support fuels’ extraction.

A trend which is likely to change: not only it wastes energies looking for exhaustible resources, but it also implies the damage to natural environment and the increase of pollution at a global level.

We can’t deny that our planet is close to an irreversible crisis and that all countries are changing their ways of producing energy, choosing renewable energies.

According to Irena – International Renewable Energy Agency – African resources, such as wind and sun, are huge. Their use implies initial high costs – about 70 billion dollars a year from now till 2030 -, but once they swing into action the green revolution, benefits will be as much high as initial investments and storage costs will be cheaper than the coal’s ones. Not to mention the real value of this process: they would invest in renewable energies and, therefore, in the future.

Today experts state that renewable energies could provide 20% of world energy demand: for Africa, a land rich in sun, water and arable soil, this is an opportunity they can’t miss.

Lots of countries have become rich just exploiting their energy resources: SAUDI ARAMCO, the Saudi hydrocarbon national company, go for 2,000 billion dollars on the market – almost as much as Africa’s annual GDP. Russia lives thanks to gases, UAE’s fortune is petroleum – even if they are now diversifying their economy to reduce their dependence on it -, USA have lived on the incomes of gases and hydrocarbons for years.

Africa could ride a wave of green revolution and introduce itself as a huge reserve of clean energy. The market exists and is potentially enormous.