3rd IEF-OFID Energy Poverty Symposium and an IEF Capacity Building Workshop, April 2017

OPEC FUND financed 40 participants from 20 African countries as well as about 10 speakers and trainers at the 3rd IEF-OPEC FUND Energy Poverty Symposium on April 12, 2017 as well at an IEF Capacity Building Workshop on April 11-13, 2017. The Symposium participants comprised a wide range of representatives from African countries, the African Energy Commission (AFREC), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and representatives of the partner organisations of the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI). In the following are the main outcome of the Symposium: •Energy poverty impacts development prospects and demographic trends across many axes in Africa and beyond. In Sub-Saharan Africa only 31% of the population has access to electricity, while in certain countries electrification can be as low as 9% to 20%. •Financing of both large centralized power plants and distributed energy solutions, operating on both conventional and renewable energy technologies is equally important for a rational use of the abundant natural resources that are readily available to African societies. •Energy poverty is more than the lack of access to electricity. In both rural and urban settings in Sub-Saharan Africa the wide spread use of traditional biomass for cooking, heating, and even lighting is a very serious health hazard, entrenches gender inequality and contributes significantly to deforestation. •Participants recognised that the role of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is critical in making available funds targeting energy poverty alleviation. The role of small- and medium-sized enterprises is vital when it comes to providing energy access and opportunities for employment and growth. •The investment environment must be politically, institutionally and economically stable at the macro-level and have a transparent and reliable regulatory framework at the micro-level delegates noted. A financially healthy power sector is a necessary precondition for eradicating energy poverty. •There is a clear need to broaden partnership and strengthen international cooperation for efforts to be well targeted and successful.