Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 4th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Swayne]

Those territories certainly have extractives, and we are pushing that agenda. I regularly meet representatives of the extractives industry to drive forward this initiative.

[Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to improve access to energy for the poorest people in Africa.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Nick Hurd)]

Some 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still do not have access to the electricity that we all take for granted, and progress towards the global goal of universal access by 2030 is too slow. We launched the Energy Africa campaign to accelerate the expansion of the household solar market and make it work for the poorest people in the world.

[Sir Henry Bellingham]

Does the Minister agree that solar power can make a real difference to economic development in places such as the Sahel? What is DFID doing to assist the roll-out of off-grid solar power for countries coming out of conflict, such as South Sudan and Somalia?

[Mr Hurd]

My hon. Friend has a profound understanding of the region, and I assure him that Somalia is one of the first countries to have signed an agreement with us on the Energy Africa campaign. I hope that many others will follow.