AfDB gathers partners in Tunis to advance Sustainable Energy for All in Africa

The African Development Bank as host of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Africa Hub organized a two-day workshop in Tunis with representatives of partner institutions. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Global Facilitation Team headed by Kandeh Yumkella, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on SEforALL. Since its launch, more than 80 Governments from around the world have formally engaged with the initiative, with 42 African countries "opted-in". The workshop was attended by the SEforALL Africa Hub partners: the African Union Commission (AUC), the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as by representatives of the European Commission, World Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), UN Foundation, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Eskom, the ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the Ghana Energy Commission, amongst others. The workshop was successful in agreeing on a common framework and methodology to move SEforALL forward at country-level, notably the development of SEforALL Action Agendas and Investment Prospectuses that will provide a tool for mobilizing public and, in particular, private sector investments in the energy sector. The workshop participants also agreed on a tentative list of around 10 African countries on which efforts will focus in 2014. During the workshop, Kandeh Yumkella met with AfDB President Donald Kaberuka, who is also an SEforALL Advisory Board Member, and praised the work of the Bank as host of the SEforALL Africa Hub. Donald Kaberuka said that the Bank considers it critical for the success of SEforALL to be able to relatively quickly demonstrate concrete progress at the country level. The Bank will support a number of African countries with developing SEforALL Action Agendas. In addition, the Bank stands ready to mobilize its full range of financing instruments to advance the SEforALL agenda and to leverage additional investments notably from the private sector. This workshop followed the 2nd Advisory Board meeting of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Initiative held in New York on November 26-27, 2013. It demonstrated both the momentum of the initiative and the opportunities that the initiative presents for Africa.