Transition to sustainable energy for development under climate change in Africa: some problems and prospects

Abstract

Straddled by the equator, the African continent receives high average levels of insolation round the year. In very many areas there prevail high average levels of ambient temperature and rates of evaporation as well as low average levels of soil moisture and ratios of run-off to rainfall. There are two major deserts in Africa, the Sahara and the Kalahari, as well as vast semi-arid zones such as the Sudano-Sahslian belt, much of the Horn of Africa and the semi-arid belt stretching from Angola through west Zambia, to Zimbabwe and Botswana.