African Union

The Second Stakeholder Forum of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) opened on Monday, 16 May 2016 at the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy. Jointly organized by the AEEP, the Italian Government, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the European Commission, the two-day Forum is focusing on how to advance renewable energy innovation, capacity building and investment, under the overall theme of ‘Business and Science: Leading the Way to Sustainable Energy.’ Following opening addresses by high-level representatives from the organizing partners, participants met in two plenary panel discussions on: innovating and investing in the energy sector in Africa; and coordinating and aligning initiatives to meet the AEEP Targets. During the discussions, two new AEEP reports ‘Status Report Update: 2016 – A mid-term report on progress, achievements and future perspectives’ and ‘Mapping of Energy Initiatives and Programs in Africa: Final Report’ were presented. In the afternoon, six thematic parallel sessions organized by AEEP Stakeholder Action Groups addressed the following topics: lessons learned from successful roll-out and scale-up of energy access business models and programmes, with a focus on capacity building of project developers to “reach the last mile first”; strategies for incorporating energy efficiency in energy policy discussion in Africa; enhancing energy security in Africa and Europe through cross-border transmission and power pools; follow up of initiatives launched at the Paris Climate Change Conference that have significant implications for energy sectors in emerging and developing countries; local political ownership and governance structures to drive energy efficiency in urban areas; and strengthening pubic sector capacities to facilitate increase of private investment and financing. During the closing session, Roberto Vigotti, Director, Renewable Energy Solutions for the Mediterranean (RES4MED) invited the AEEP Secretariat to a business networking session in Rome in two days, prior to formally launching RES4AFRICA in October in Kenya. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web updates from the Second Stakeholder Forum of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) - Business and Science: Leading the Way to Sustainable Energy. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report from the Forum, which is available in HTML and PDF format. Participants applaud during the plenary discussions H.E. Dr Elham Ibrahim, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, AUC, delivers the keynote address during the official opening session. Tom Pätz, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, moderating the thematic session on energy security, connectivity and regional integration L-R: David Otieno, Head, AEEP Secretariat, in discussion with Irene Margaret Nafuna Muloni, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda AEEP staff distribute the report on ‘Mapping of Energy Initiatives and Programs in Africa’ Photos courtesy of AEEP Secretariat