Angola's Secretary of State of Energy, Joaquin Ventura, opened the validation workshop for Angola's SE4All Action Agenda and Investment Prospectus on 26 August 2016 in Luanda on behalf of the energy Minister, João Baptista Borges. The workshop, organised by the Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) concluded work to define Angola's long-term objectives on energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well as the priority actions required to achieve them.
In his opening address, Ventura reaffirmed the importance of achieving universal access to modern energy services for the country and the strong commitment of the Angolan Government to this cause, highlighting the various policies and projects currently being developed. The Director of Electricity and SE4All Coordinator, Job Vilinga, presented the methodology and approach used to compile the documents and thanked the coordinators of the different working groups for their support.
The main aspects of the Action Agenda and the Investment Prospectus were presented, including the objectives of achieving universal access to electricity and for clean cooking by 2030. The Agenda also envisions improving energy efficiency by 1% every year and achieving an 85% renewable energy share in the electricity mix. These objectives would be achieved through a series of priority actions - some of which have already started or those that are being planned by the government including the improvement of the transmission and distribution networks, investments in new generation plants, particularly hydro, promotion of mini-grids and other renewables and expansion of LPG access for cooking.
After a fruitful discussion with the workshop participants, the Resident Representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Angola, Martin Septime closed the workshop, highlighting the importance of effective cooperation among stakeholders to provide modern energy services to all Angolans and reaffirmed that the AfDB, which has adopted energy as a top priority with the New Deal on Energy for Africa, would support the country's energy programmes.
The Action Agenda is an umbrella energy sector development document and constitutes a suitable national response to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 7 on energy adopted in September 2015 by the UN General Assembly that strives to "ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern and energy for all".
Guided by the SE4All Africa Hub, the Action Agenda and the Investment Prospectus were developed by inter-ministerial working groups through an inclusive process, with extended consultations with national stakeholders and international experts.
The African Development Bank supported the MINEA in this process with technical assistance financed through the African Climate Technology Centre (ACTC).The Action Agenda builds on the SE4All Rapid Assessment / Gap Analysis launched in August 2015 with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) support. The Bank, UNDP, African Union and NEPAD are partners in the SE4All Africa Hub.
The workshop was attended by over 100 stakeholders from government, private sector, development partners, civil society and academia, as well as the Secretary of State for Petroleum, Aníbal Teixeira da Silva.
