World Bank: Arab, African Countries Among 'Best' in Developing Renewable Energy

World Bank: Arab, African Countries Among 'Best' in Developing Renewable Energy
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World Bank: Arab, African Countries Among 'Best' in Developing Renewable Energy

World Bank: Arab, African Countries Among 'Best' in Developing Renewable Energy

The World Bank has recently released a report, titled Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) 2018, in which it warned that the world, as a whole, is only about half way towards the adoption of advanced policy frameworks for sustainable energy.

This puts at risk the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal on Energy (SDG7) by 2030 and hinders progress towards the goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures to well below two degrees.

It follows the previous methodology of classifying countries into a green zone of strong performers in the top third, a yellow zone of middling performers, and a red zone of weaker performers in the bottom third.

The latest edition of RISE found that in the last decade the number of countries with strong policy frameworks for sustainable energy has more than tripled since 2010, with a dramatic increase in the uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency targets.

It showed that from 2010 till 2017, the number of countries with strong policy frameworks for sustainable energy more than tripled from 17 to 59.

Strong performance in renewable energy policies has been distributed across all regions of the world and among different income groups.

The report said that the five countries that made the most progress in their policies in recent years and are from outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) including: the Ivory Coast, UAE, Rwanda, Jordan and Egypt. It also found that the world has seen a huge uptake in sustainable energy policies.

According to the report, it was noted that when the government is concerned with energy policies progress is achieved quickly.

Among the 133 countries in the index, countries where governments are concerned with sustainable energy sources made progress in RISE indicator by more than four percentage points, twice the average of the annual global growth rate.

Countries that have increased their electricity access rates the most since 2010 have also shown a concurrent improvement in electricity access policies. In countries with an electricity access deficit, policymakers are increasingly turning their attention to off-grid solutions to close the gap, the report explained.

This is illustrated by the soaring share of low-access countries adopting measures to support mini-grids and solar home systems from around 15 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2017.

In countries that have made progress on sustainable policies, the deteriorating fiscal position of national utilities is putting progress at risk.

Among countries with low access to energy, the number of utilities meeting basic creditworthiness criteria dropped from 63 percent in 2012 to 37 percent in 2016, the report said.



Egypt's Revenue from the Suez Canal Plunged Sharply in 2024

FILED - 17 November 2019, Egypt, Ismailia: A container ship sails through the Suez Canal. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 17 November 2019, Egypt, Ismailia: A container ship sails through the Suez Canal. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
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Egypt's Revenue from the Suez Canal Plunged Sharply in 2024

FILED - 17 November 2019, Egypt, Ismailia: A container ship sails through the Suez Canal. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 17 November 2019, Egypt, Ismailia: A container ship sails through the Suez Canal. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa

Egypt's revenue from the Suez Canal plunged by almost two thirds last year, officials said Wednesday, attributing the sharp drop to regional tensions and wars in the Middle East that have impacted traffic through the key waterway.

The canal is a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government, with about 10% of world trade flowing through the waterway in recent years.

The Suez Canal Authority, which runs the waterway, said the canal generated an annual revenue of $3.991 billion in 2024, down from a historic high of $10.25 billion in 2023, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page, The Associated Press said.

Canal traffic has been significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group started to threaten maritime trade and targeting vessels heading to Israel through the Suez Canal to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza, which started on Oct. 7, 2023.

Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors. The militant group insisted the attacks would continue as long as the wars go on and have devastated shipping through the region.

According to the Egyptian canal authority, only 13,213 ships passed through the canal in 2024, marking a 50% decline compared to the number of ships in 2023, when over 26,000 ships passed through.

Still, canal authority chief Osama Rabie said that the attacks challenge the region but have not prevented Egypt from continuing to provide its navigational and maritime services in the Suez.

The International Monetary Fund reported in March 2024 that the Suez Canal trade dropped by 50% in the first two months of that year, compared to the previous year, citing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government in 2015 completed a significant expansion of the Suez Canal, adding a second shipping lane and allowing it to handle some of the world’s largest vessels.

The canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red seas, was opened in 1869. It serves as a vital artery for global trade — a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo. The canal authority operates a system of convoys, consisting of one northbound and one southbound per day.