The World Energy Council has signed an agreement with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA) to drive regional energy integration and enhance sustainable energy access in the 21 COMESA states
The MoU cements cooperation between the Council and COMESA and will spearhead the regional energy agenda in Africa, with the aim of promoting economic growth, intra-regional trade and infrastructure development.
Some of the major challenges identified by the Council’s members in Africa include a low level of access to modern energy, weak development of energy infrastructure, lack of financing and investment and low-level trade and energy.
The joint declaration includes a framework which seeks to address these issues by promoting energy trade and identify innovative business models, in addition to policy and regulatory solutions relevant to the energy transition.
Dr Christoph Frei, secretary general of World Energy Council, said, “Energy equity, security, environmental sustainability, resilience, and innovation are all essential mechanisms in advancing the regional energy integration agenda within Africa.”
This will be achieved through engagement and debate between COMESA and the Council’s national member committees, development of joint energy scenarios within the region, workshops, staff exchange programmes and the roll out of priority projects.
Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, secretary general at COMESA, commented, “We need to double our efforts to ensure that our aspirations in this respect are attained. We are optimistic that the partnership between COMESA and the World Energy Council will help us shape the energy policy of COMESA and ultimately help spur investment in the sector.”
The Council is among the few global energy platforms that have a strong presence in Africa.
