CCTV News – Faces of Africa features Kandeh K. Yumkella and his driving mission to ensure universal energy access

Kandeh Yumkella is the former Director General of UNIDO. He grew up in the north coast of Sierra Leone. Yumkella's driving mission is to ensure that people in the rural areas of Africa have safe access to electricity. He believes that one of the biggest challenges facing Africa is lack of energy. “For harmony in the world, for peace and security we need to give access to electricity, to the 1.4 billion people who have no access to electricity. We need to help the 2.7 billion who are relying on biomass for cooking in the 21 century,” says Yumkella. Yumkella believes that energy is the golden thread that runs across all the pillars of sustainable development. He hopes that with access to energy, people can enjoy the same success in life as he has a career that has put him in a major American university, his own country’s government and important positions with the United Nations.