African Energy Stakeholders have been urged to double their efforts in making energy available, affordable and accessible to the bulk of the African Population.  The call was made by the Head of NEPAD’s Energy Division, Professor Mosad Elmissiry, at the first of three crucial high level meetings on Energy, in Gaborone, Botswana.

The back-to-back workshops from April 22 to 26, aim to develop strategies and action plans that will enable African Countries to provide modern energy resources to their citizens.

“Africa is blessed with massive and varied energy resources, from vast coal reserves in the southern part of Africa, huge hydro resources in central and north Africa, to massive gas resources in eastern and west Africa.  We need to drastically change our approach to the way we use these resources so as to make energy accessible and affordable to all our people. The business as usual approach is no longer workable” said Professor Elmissiry.

For the next four days, representatives of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, government Officials, specialized Institutions, development banks, international organisations, civil society, the private sector and academics and researchers finalise three key documents which will support the effective management energy in Africa. 

This is in response to a call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, to up the momentum to ensure energy resources are widely available, the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4A) Initiative, was endorsed by the UN General Assembly, in December 2012, declaring 2014-2024 as the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All. Member States were requested to set up mechanisms to make universal access to durable modern energy services a priority.   

In his opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary in Botswana’s  Ministry of Energy, Mr Boikobo Paya, noted that the development and finalisation of the three documents showed that Africa was taking the lead in defining its own approach to providing and managing sustainable energy for its people. “We believe that the provision of reliable, affordable and good quality energy services, without losing sight of the need to protect the environment,   is critical for the attainment of prosperity for the continent” said Mr Paya.

NEPAD and African Union Commission have been leading continent-wide consultations with member states, regional bodies and other stakeholders in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to coordinate and articulate the African response to the SE4ALL call to action. 

On ensuring that the initiative is a success in Africa, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to Botswana, Mr Lare Sisay said: “This process will not be easy or quick; it will require Leadership and Commitment; Stable Policy and Regulatory Frameworks; Financing; Strengthening of Capacity; Innovation and Communication and Awareness as well as collaboration among actors in different sectors and different areas of expertise.