The SE4ALL Africa Hub convened representatives of the Eastern, Central and Southern African Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) focus countries for a workshop on the development of SE4ALL Action Agendas and Investment Prospectuses in Addis Ababa from May 29-30. The meeting took place following a successful launch of the Action Agenda process for the ECOWAS region in March and the Africa Launch of the SE4ALL Decade during the African Development Bank's Annual Meetings in Kigali.
The workshop was attended by over 40 participants from SE4ALL focus countries for 2014, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, regional economic communities and power pools as well as development partners, including the European Commission, World Bank, European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement, US State Department and others. Representatives of International Renewable Energy Agency, of the SE4ALL Renewable Energy Hub and the Danish Energy Efficiency Hub also participated. The workshop was officially opened by Gerd Trogemann, Deputy Director of the UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa; Baba Moussa, Director for Infrastructure at the African Union Commission; Mosad Elmissiry, Head of Energy at the NEPAD Agency; and Daniel-Alexander Schroth, SE4ALL Africa Hub Coordinator from the AfDB's Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department.
The SE4ALL Action Agenda template that was developed by the Africa Hub was presented to the participants. The SE4ALL Action Agenda is a strategic and holistic national document looking at the three objectives on universal energy access, doubling the share of renewables and the rate of energy efficiency improvements in an integrated manner. It is to intervene as an umbrella framework for the energy sector development until 2030 that also includes the nexus angles of energy (food security, gender, health, water, etc.). In addition to the Action Agenda countries are encouraged to develop an Investment Prospectus with a view to mobilize the required investments. "The SE4All Action Agenda provides a unique opportunity to address the required energy sector reforms and align all stakeholders towards the SE4ALL objectives at national level," said Schroth.
The workshop was successful in presenting the latest information on SE4ALL to participants and also demonstrated that all countries have embarked on addressing SE4ALL at national level. It also demonstrated the support that is being provided by the various SE4ALL partners to assist countries in this process. Country representatives in particular welcomed the guidance provided by the SE4ALL Africa Hub and highlighted their intention to advance on developing the SE4ALL Action Agenda and Investment Prospectus. The AfDB together with SE4ALL Africa Hub partners is supporting several countries in this process.
The African Development Bank hosts the SE4ALL Africa Hub in partnership with the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Agency and United Nations Development Programme.
