"Average electricity consumption per person in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, is a mere 185 kWh a year, compared with 6,500kWh in Europe and 12,700kWh in America"

@johnpmcdermott & me in @TheEconomist on #energy & #climate in #Africa🧵(1/n)

economist.com/middle-east-an… To start a little context on electricity access globally. Anyone spot an outlier?

The Congo peatlands hold the equivalent of three years’ worth of global emissions from fossil fuels

Yet this week DRC will auction 27 oil-exploration blocks that encompass 1m hectares of peatlands and perhaps 11m hectares of rainforest

My latest (1/6) economist.com/middle-east-an… It is not just the peatlands that are at risk. A dozen oil blocks overlap with protected areas, including two national parks. One, Virunga National Park, is home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas (2/6)

"At one payments company, transfers from Britain to east Africa may have fallen by 80%. Another has seen flows from Italy to Africa drop by 90%."

My piece in @TheEconomist on how remittances to Africa are being hit by #Covid19 & what could help (Thread)
economist.com/middle-east-an… Remittances tend to be underestimated. But they are massive. In sub Saharan #Africa:

➡️ At $46bn they are far larger than total FDI of $32bn
➡️ Worth more than the #aid from top 10 donors combined

Plus they go directly to families. And provide crucial forex to Central Banks