Europe Invests in Africa
EurActive reports on a major European Union initiative to invest in the African energy sector. The €600 million will go to a variety of projects including renewable generation, power pools and infrastructure projects. A further major announcement is expected soon on the subject of the proposed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline. This is intended to bring up to 30 billion cubic metres of Nigerian natural gas across more than 4,300km of desert to EU markets via Algeria. It would also, of course, significantly reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia for gas supplies.
The primary source of all these handouts is something called the European Development Fund, which is of course abbreviated to EDF. Any resemblance to a French energy company is entirely coincidental, if somewhat amusing.