The NGO, Tunisia Africa Business Council has published a study on the future of energy markets in Africa and the Mediterranean region.
This study shows that in partnership with other African states, Tunisia could seize the opportunity of the high energy demand due to the conflict in Eastern Europe to become a platform for energy export to European countries.
“Europe is looking for alternative energy sources. Tunisia’s strategic proximity to Italy and energy other than African countries such as Algeria, Libya, and Nigeria, and the energy crisis faced by Europe due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict offer an opportunity to make the country an energy route linking the two continents”, said Tunisian official.
Officials describe Africa’s Fossil as well as Nova energy sources as huge and still exploit.
“It is a win-win cooperation in the energy field between Africa and Europe. Africa could benefit by developing renewables and modernizing its energy infrastructure while earning important revenues and Europe could get energy from reliable sources’’, added an official.
“Africa has great potential in energy. It can seize this opportunity for its development nowadays. We cannot talk about industrialization without energy”, another official said in a statement.
According to the International Energy Agency, sub-Saharan Africa’s share of the global population without access to electricity rose to 77 percent from 74 percent before the pandemic.
“In some regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 70 percent of the population doesn’t have access to electricity. An energy project between Africa to Europe could solve a major problem and benefit local people on our continent”, said the expert.
In December 2022, the European Union approved financial support of 332 million for the electricity in the connection project between Tunisia and Italy.
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The element inter-connector will be developed by the Italian utility turner and the Tunisian state-owned power grid operator stack and will feature a 200-kilometer sub-sea high-voltage cable.
Tunisian officials and energy experts are aiming to position the North African country on the Africa-Europe energy map and to develop a common vision for corporations in the energy field between the two continents, a total of up to 2.5 gigawatts of power interconnection projects are currently under consideration between Tunisia and Italy.
