# The Role of Renewable Energy Sources and Industry 4.0 Focus for Africa: A Review
## 2 Industry 4.0 in Africa
### Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa  
The fourth industrial revolution is gaining momentum across different parts of the world. However, the same cannot be said concerning Africa. Despite the claim that 4 IR has a high penetration rate globally, some countries still lack some of the main features of the 2 IR and 3 IR. About 66.67% of the world population is behind the 2 IR, as they lack access to electricity [54]. Similarly, 50% of the world population needs to catch up on the 3 IR due to a lack of access to the Internet [55]. Africa and some parts of India and Asia account for the bulk of these figures [56], although some momentum is being gathered in parts of South Africa and Kenya. In these two countries, the emphasis of the 4 IR is focused on education, entrepreneurship, the national economy, and manufacturing. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [57] examined the implication of the 4 IR on hotel businesses in South Africa and Kenya. The study argued that hotels in the two countries benefit from 4 IR in revenue and exposure via social media usage. However, the need for regulation of the 4 IR features and unpredictable aspects of the 4 IR poses a real challenge to the sector. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [58] researched advancing cosmopolitan education in Africa regarding 4 IR. The study believed that the best route to actualize the 4 IR is by implementing and tapping into technologies of previous IRs, especially electricity and the Internet. Figure 1: Key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This study suggests that new skill sets such as problem-solving, social, processing, and cognitive skills should be included in Africa's school curriculum. This study opined that teaching and learning should be done to allow the global acquisition of skills and competencies by African schools while developing these skillsets indigenously. [PERSON] and [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2018) used unobtrusive methods to examine the challenges and windows of opportunities available to education in South Africa with 4 IR. The study identified a lack of adequate infrastructure, skill shortage, and funding as significant factors mitigating the success of 4 IR. However, the 4 IR offers an opportunity for global participation in collaborative partnerships and the digital economy. [PERSON] (2018) did comprehensive work on the link between entrepreneur, education, and 4 IR. The paper suggested that consented efforts must be given to entrepreneur and education for Africa to benefit from the 4 IR. However, in line with [PERSON] and [PERSON]'s [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2018) assertions, implementing 4 IR with existing infrastructure in African countries needs to be tempered and observed. This is especially true in the case of industrial energy generation and provision levels. Specifically, the transmission and distribution infrastructure is sparsely distributed outside countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and sub-Saharan Africa, often focusing entirely on capital cities. Rural areas often depend more on decentralized, or local, generation and electricity provided by fossil fuel. These include diesel for electricity and coal or wood for domestic heating and cooking. Energy consumption is also limited by the availability of suitably sized off-takers, with most being relatively rudimentary, such as open-pit mining, small-scale materials processing, and logging. Therefore, despite a substantial influx of funds from IFCs (interational finance corporations) and local financial institutions, the introduction of energy, more specifically renewable energy, in the African context needs to be carefully considered, as the production of power cannot be viewed on a stand-alone basis. However, the next section will aim to clarify what renewable energy is, how it functions in terms of generation, how it affects a transmission/distribution network in practice, and what is required. The key features of the 4 IR include the shift in population, shift in mass production, and rise of the sophisticated transportation system. Population shift will occur at the height of the 4 IR.