Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: The African Bio-Economy Story

By Douglas L. Faulkner, “The Cleantech Conservative” and Gerard J. Ostheimer, PhD
Special to the Digest

With a nod to the Oscar winning movie of the same name, we want to convey a sense of where the African Bioeconomy is now, where it could be headed, and what is needed for vibrant, enduring growth.

The early homes of the modern bioeconomy:  Brazil, Europe, and the U.S., developed their bioeconomies in a stepwise, linear fashion. In contrast, African countries need to stop the unregulated, destructive use of biomass for traditional cooking and start producing modern liquid fuels for cooking, road transport, and aviation “all at once”. No country or region has attempted to make such an ambitious leap.

Not only must Sub-Saharan Africa jump forward in deploying the technologies of the modern bioeconomy, but feedstock production from agriculture must also transition from subsistence, labor-intensive food production to modern agricultural practices. In addition, the uptake of liquid fuels for use in homes, transport, and farming must meld effectively with increasing green electricity production and use combined with a slowly decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. All of this must be achieved sustainably and on terms set by African business and government leaders.

Green shoots are sprouting, but unrealized market potential is high in many locations around sub-Saharan Africa.  Changes in tax structures, business regulations and new technical standards, motivated by national climate goals (i.e., NDCs) and national renewable fuel mandates, are sparking new growth.  IEA Bioenergy Task 39 recently updated the state-of-play for national biofuel mandates and discriminated between countries with laws on the books and countries with biofuels at the pump. Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are working hard to meet their blending targets; however, market driven cooking with ethanol is scaling well in Kenya, and we expect rapid uptake in Rwanda.  Nigeria is considering ethanol and bio-diesel to reduce its reliance on imported refinery products.  South Africa is poised to emerge as a leader for sustainable aviation fuels.  The trick is converting these successes into similar advances elsewhere where conditions are ripe, consumer demand is high, and supporters can build new coalitions for change.

All in all, a tall order indeed – – but not impossible, especially with investment, assistance, and guidance from those who have gone before. The developed world – – and America in particular – – should offer help to Africa from A-Z in the bioeconomy, from growing more crops to shipping to processing and marketing.  The same multitude of partners that have helped grow the U.S. bioeconomy should engage, including academia, non-profits, industry and state and federal governments.  This assistance will necessarily involve sales of American technology, equipment, and finished products as the African economies grow and develop.

While securing its food and energy future, Africa cannot be derailed or decelerated by inhibiting pressures from outside activists seeking to enforce unrealistic expectations of a 1-step transition to a Net-Zero emissions economy. The international community must account for Africa’s rapidly growing population that will face growing pressures from changing climate, hunger, health, international markets, and geopolitics.  The Ukrainian War brought new strains on global fertilizer, food, oil, and financial markets.  And, as always, it is the global poor that take the heaviest hit on their health and livelihoods.  At the same time, growing interests in African raw materials and proximity to ocean shipping lanes has brought great power competition into sharper focus on the subcontinent.  However, reducing African dependence on imported food and energy not only reduces pressure on African economies but also adds new options against energy and food market disruptions.

There is a good news/bad news story in the incredible range of governmental and non-profits trying to promote the multiple aspects of African growth.  The good news is that there is no shortage of groups wanting to improve African food production, agricultural development, health.  That’s the bad news too, because the cacophony of special interest voices in their focused stovepipes can complicate the overriding need to modernize African agriculture by recruiting new investment and technologies, while developing markets for food and bio-based products, like biofuels and bio-based chemicals. Proponents of a modern African Bioeconomy that enables countries to meet their Sustainable Development Goals (including climate change mitigation and adaptation) can lead by example.  The critical challenge is to remove barriers to productive collaboration between African and international interests that work in the areas of agriculture, energy, and health.

We are encouraged to see leaders such as the Clean Cooking Alliance, KOKO networks, and Pivot Bioethanol improving health, reducing GHG emissions, reducing de-forestation, AND growing markets for bioethanol. We are encouraged by increasing international attention from UN agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Industrial Development Organization, that enable climate smart agriculture and agro-industrial modernization at the same time. Now we need success stories to capture the imagination of global investors and supporters from both the public and private sector. Watch this space for ways to recruit investment and private sector involvement for growing the African Bioeconomy.