On 24 September, the NEPAD Chief, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki participated in the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) high level event in New York.

In his address, Dr Mayaki highlighted the Agency’s energy commitments announced during the UN Conferenceon Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June this year. Key among them are the programmes on renewable energy; NEPAD’s role in the high impact area of bioenergy; as well as collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the Africa Platform for Development Effectiveness (APDev) which has culminated in the formationof an African response to sustainableenergy initiatives.

Speaking at the meeting United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki-Moon commended actions on the ground towards SE4ALL objectives and launched its next implementation phase.

Dr Mayaki emphasised the link between sustainable energy and Africa’s development agenda and expressed NEPAD’s interest in being fully engaged in the second phase of the initiative.

Earlier in September, NEPAD and UNDP brought together key stakeholders,in Nairobi, Kenya, to outlineAfrica’s position regarding the SE4ALL initiatives; take stock of, and advance existing and new activities.

Representatives of African Governments,Regional Economic Communities,and the African Union Commission as well as experts from regional and international organisations,development partners and civil society came up with vital recommendationat the end of their two-day meeting.

They stated that Africa should take advantage of the new avenues that the SE4ALL initiative provides, to advance its goals regarding energy access, renewable energies, and energy efficiency. They resolved that SE4ALL should advance energy programmes at all levels, develop additional programmes and support policies.

Other recommendations were that African countries should continue to champion the cause of gender mainstreaming in the planning and implementation of their sustainable energy programmes. Governments were called upon to devise innovative means to finance energy projects and create a conducive environmentto attract investment from both private/public partnerships.

A number of African countries have finalised and approved the SE4ALL Gap analyses. Support is needed to enable others, which have not yet completed the analysis to finalise and approve the reports by the end of the year.

Capacity Development is the corner stone in achieving the objectives of the sustainable energy objectives. In this regard, the workshop called upon the APDev to take centre stage in facilitating skills enhancement for the successful achievement of SE4ALL objectives.

Given the importance of biomass, such as charcoal and wood, which accounts for over 80 percent of the primary energy use in Africa, and whose consumption is growing, delegates at the meeting resolved that the AUC, NEPAD and UNDP should support sustainable charcoal production and use, through the developmentof an African Sustainable Charcoal Framework.