Absa’s Shirley Webber on why Africa’s energy story has to be about more than access
Africa’s energy ambitions cannot stop at access, they have to reach all the way to industrial capacity, and the value chains and communities that grow around it. That was the argument from Shirley Webber, Managing Principal and Coverage Head for Resources and Energy at Absa CIB, speaking to ENN at the Africa Energy Forum.
Access to energy is not the whole task, Webber said. The goal is to keep building towards an industrialised economy, one where growth stays within a country’s borders and communities are brought into the value chain rather than left outside it. That, for her, is what an industrialised future for Africa actually looks like.
She was clear that this depends on power that is both reliable and timely. Africa’s future economy can only be built on energy that arrives when it is needed, she said, and a mix of sources will get it there. Solar, wind and hydro all have a part to play, but baseload matters too, and the continent’s gas reserves will be significant in supporting industrialisation. What investors and stakeholders look for, she added, is sustainable options, and it is those that will draw them in to help Africa develop alternative sources.
On Absa’s own role, Webber pointed to the bank’s reach across the continent and its work helping countries with energy solutions. The distinctive part of her argument was that Absa looks beyond the energy source itself to the whole value chain around it. In mining, for example, that means supporting not only the power for extraction but the activity around it, from beneficiation to the intensive-energy users and the communities nearby. She was clear that the contribution goes beyond funding, the thing financial institutions traditionally do, and into advisory work, transactional banking and structured solutions. Traditional financing alone will not carry Africa, she said, and the continent needs to be smarter about it or risk being left behind.
Asked to sum up what AEF is trying to achieve in three words, Webber landed on execution, energy, and bringing stakeholders together to drive Africa’s economic growth.
