Q:

Does Africa have to choose between renewable energy and economic growth?

Speaking at an energy conference in Moscow, Russia's president Vladimir Putin was critical of renewable energy.  He seems to claim that it is a choice between fossil fuel driven economic development or renewable energy.  

People in Africa and in many Asian countries want to be as wealthy as
  people in Sweden.  How can this be done?  By making them use solar
  power, which is plentiful in Africa?  Has anyone explained the cost of
  it? [...] But is it an accessible technology for developing economies
  and countries?  Hardly accessible.  But people there want to live like
  in Sweden and nothing can stop them.  Go and explain to them that they
  must live in poverty for 20-30 more years, as well as their children. 
  Explain it to them.  Overall, of course, we cannot but support the
  ideas of developing renewable energy sources.  We just need to be
  realistic.

I would like to know if this is correct: does Africa have to choose between renewable energy or economic development?  And would choosing solar panels really stagnate living standards for twenty to thirty years?  
Considering that Russia is a major oil and gas exporter, it does seem convenient that their president is critical of the effectiveness of renewables.  But that doesn't mean his claim is necessarily wrong.  

A:

An answer to this question depends how one chooses to interpret that Putin said. I interpret it as him saying solar panels are more expensive than alternatives, perhaps for the next 20-30 years.
That depends on a few assumptions. A 2018 study on the feasibility of solar power (which is generally assumed is going to be largely decentralized in Africa) found that under the current cost structure solar power is not competitive (only in 0.2-0.3% of Africa it could beat current grid tariffs), but that it could become so in 28-35% of Africa under some assumptions of future cost decreases. They seem to rely on a 25% cost reduction by 2025 for this projection, derived from IRENA.

