Presently the human energy requirements are enormous and still growing. All the countries of the world need energy, which is the main source of development. The shift to renewable source is not only environmental friendly but it is almost available in every country. The development of African continent is still very slow; it is mainly due to the limited policy interest and investment levels. The aim of this paper is to review the status and current trends of potential of the resources in some African countries and energy consumption in the residential sector of Cameroon. It was found that the Africa’s energy needs are constantly growing and should exceed 50% of current levels in next century .Moreover Africa has substantial new renewable energy resources, most of which are under-exploited. We found that 83% of the rural population in Africa has no access to electricity. This rate reached 92% in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is known as an oil producing state; Cameroon has the second largest forestry potential in the Congo Basin, while South Africa is among the 20 highest contributors to CO2 emissions in the world.