Under-Secretary-General Kandeh Yumkella is the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Chief Executive for the Sustainable Energy for All initiative. His job is to mobilise global commitments and partnerships to, among others, promote clean energy economy and generate jobs. Prior to his appointment, Mr Yumkella had served as director-general of the UN …
By Kandeh Yumkella and Rob Davies PRETORIA: Over dinner in Algiers recently, we asked each other whether the youth-led revolutions unfolding in northern Africa presage the awakening of economic lions throughout the continent. Could the changes unfolding in the Arab north usher in an Africa-wide industrial revolution? If so, it would mean shifting from production of …
By Achim Steiner, Helen Clark and Kandeh Yumkella NAIROBI: Renewable energy triggers sharply polarized views. For some, it is a costly white elephant; for others, it is humanity’s savior, promising to emancipate us (and our environment) from the “folly” of fossil fuels. So a hardheaded, credible, and, above all, impartial analysis, which would provide a much-needed …
By Kandeh Yumkella ACCRA: When you fly into Takoradi, Ghana’s fourth largest city and an industrial and commercial center, one of the first things you notice are the oil rigs along the coast. It is a panorama that is increasingly characteristic of modern-day Africa. Nearby, in the city of Elmina, one can see the scars of …
