- Key recommendations for speeding up investments in the energy sector in Africa and stimulating sustainable growth and job creation were presented to the annual plenary meeting of the Africa-Europe High Level Platform on Sustainable Energy Investments in Johannesburg this month.
- The document is the product of intensive discussions among the platform’s wide range of African and European stakeholders in the course of 2019.
They cover 11 key areas: policy and regulations; project implementation instruments; financing and fiscal measures; capacity-building; traditional distribution; the off-grid sector; transmission; generation; regional integration through power pools; energy efficiency; and clean cooking.
Outlining the recommendations at the November 12 plenary session, held within the framework of the Africa Investment Forum, members of the SEI Platform highlighted the potential for renewable energy and regionalisation in Africa. This document will now provide policy-makers with guidance to develop specific, targeted activities on the ground. Following the presentation of the recommendations, attention now turns to the crucial next phase – implementation and, in the words of one member of the platform, the “need to move from words to kilowatts” (Quote from Jeffree Rugare, Chief Executive Officer of Global Solar).
Background
Coordinated by Kandeh Yumkella, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, the High Level Platform on Sustainable Energy Investments comprises 50 participating organisations from the public and private sectors, financing institutions, international organisations, academia and the civil society. It serves as the energy task force for the Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs, launched by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in September 2018. It seeks to identify the enablers for public and private investments in Africa that will improve access to sustainable energy, boost industrialisation and job creation and fight climate change. The platform was launched by the EU at the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg in November 2018. The EU co-chairs the platform together with the African Union. The EU is also financially supporting the platform’s activities.
Author: GBA News Desk
Source: European Commission
