Renewable Energy Ventures’ CEO Joseph Ng’ang’a said that for African companies thinking of increasing their exports to the US, delving more into renewable energy is a must in order to make their production more efficient and merchandise more competitive. The Kenyan energy expert said that under a US trade deal, African nations are allowed to export 6,400 items duty and quota free to the North American country, but have failed to sell much to the US as more efficient producers like China took precedence.
As the West focuses more on green products, Africa must take note and conform products to customer demands on environmentally friendly items. "There is the very real risk that as countries in the West apply mechanisms such as cap, trade, and carbon tax within their countries, they will extend the same policies across value chains of imported products," he told Reuters at an annual US-Africa forum on how to increase the continent’s exports to the United States from the present 1%."This would mean that production costs of goods that use fossil fuel energy would increase and therefore lower their competitiveness."
Initial capital outlay for renewables may be high but the advantage of lower operating costs and increased competitiveness is strategically ideal, Ng’ang’a said, adding the cost of green energy is now almost at parity with grid electricity.