Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 15 January 2016- The Africa Energy Ministers met at a side event during the 6th Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to be briefed on the outcomes of the COP21 and the importance of renewable energy in the Climate Change endeavors, as well as the importance of the establishment of a coordination mechanism for the African and global energy initiatives in Africa.

The Ministerial Meeting was co-organized by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the African Union Commission as a side event at the 6th IRENA Assembly Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and World Future Energy Summit (WFES). The Ministerial side event was attended by High-Level representatives of Government and International Organizations including African Ministers and deputy ministers from Comoros, Egypt, Ghana, Namibia, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

H.E. Dr. Adnan Amin, Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) delivered keynote speeches at the opening of the Session where he highlighted the outcomes of COP211 relevant to the energy sector. The outcomes included the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) that aims to add an additional 10 GW and 300 GW of renewable energy capacity to the African energy sector by 2020 and 2030, respectively. The Africa Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) and Sustainable Energy Market Place (SEM) being initiatives of IRENA that promote the AU Agenda 2063 vision on the development of renewable energy and ensuring modern and sustainable energy access for all Africans.

Dr. Amin, in his speech highlighted that Energy and Africa took the centre stage at COP21giving Africa the opportunity to speed up the rate of access to modern and sustainable renewable energy.

H.E. Dr. Elham Ibrahim, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission, delivered an opening speech of the Session. Dr. Elham, in her speech stressed how important it is to keep the momentum set at COP21 for accelerating the development of the renewable energy in Africa, getting orientation on setting clear targets in the context of energy access and the impact of renewable energy on climate change; updated knowledge of how to secure investment and mobilize funding for supporting renewable energy initiatives; and improved coordination of the implementation of the regional projects.

There were further presentations by the AUC technical team on:

- Outcomes of the COP21 and Way Forward, giving an overview of the key outcomes of the Paris Agreement and its relevance to accelerating low carbon development in Africa.

- Opportunities for Cooperation and Coordination and the first results of Mapping of Energy Initiatives in Africa showing the key findings of the mapping exercise and highlighting opportunities for synergy and enhanced coordination that will accelerate renewable energy deployment as a key part of climate action.

The Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Energy expressed their gratitude to AUC and IRENA for presenting such an important feedback of the outcomes of COP21. They also acknowledged the presentation on Coordination and Mapping of Pan African Energy Initiatives as a very good start that would need to be put on a road map and communicated to a wider audience.

In her closing remarks, Dr. Elham, stressed on the importance of showing commitment by member states by raising own resources to build capacities, improving policies and regulatory frameworks that can be harmonized at regional and continental level.

The following Recommendations and Way Forward were outlined:

§ AUC and IRENA together with other stakeholders – AfDB, NPCA, UNECA, AEEP, EU, and others to continue the presentations of outcomes of COP21, Coordination mechanism and mapping of Pan African Energy Initiatives to a wider audience at regional and national levels. These presentations to include aspects of Financing mechanisms and tools and Risk Mitigation measures.

§ Further define the coordination mechanism in order to bring it to a practical level together with AfDB, NPCA, UNECA, AEEP, EU, and others.

§ AUC should elaborate a road map on the way forward on synergies of the new and existing energy initiatives in Africa.

§ The AUC should also continue to communicate and interact with the Energy Ministers in order to get more feedback and to strengthen their engagement as well as speeding up the convening of Energy Ministers as a sub-committee of the newly developed Special Technical Committee (STC) on Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism.

For more information contact:

Mr. Atef Marzouk,

Ag. Head of Division, Energy; Department of Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission; E-mail: MarzoukA@africa-union.org

Directorate of Information and Communication
Directorate of Information and Communication | Information and Communication | African Union Commission

Tel: +251-11-5517700 | Fax: | E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org | Web:www.au.int

Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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