Africa biofuels must encourage land reform

11 September 2007 18:18  [Source: ICIS news]

JOHANNESBURG (ICIS news)--The development and use of biofuels in Africa must encourage land reform and create employment while ensuring energy and food security, delegates at the opening day of the Biofuels Africa 2007 conference heard on Tuesday.

Representatives of government and private enterprise from Africa, the US and Europe discussed the need for economies of scale, market regulation and the monetisation of by-products, with the continent seen as having good biofuel feedstock potential.

“Governments in Africa need to subsidise the fast-tracking of biofuels plants to make Africa a driver of biofuels production,” said Madi Ramsamy, CEO of South African firm Siyanda Biodiesel.

He said that this must be policy on the part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), providing economic impetus for a continent where fuel distribution networks are costly and there is less than 10% access to electricity in rural areas.

Crops that are seen as ideal for spurring the development of the African biofuels market include palm oil, sunflowers, soya beans, maize, sorghum, sugar cane and cassava.

Wessel Lemmer, a senior economist for South African industry body GrainSA, said if the northern hemisphere is serious about developing biofuels, it should help create opportunities in countries with excellent climatic and soil conditions, such as Angola, Mozambique and Zambia.

But he said free market principles, including property rights, would have to be respected to optimise economic activity in this area.

By: Mark Allix
+44 20 8652 3214

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