Skip to main content
Africa-EU
Energy Partnership

AEEP Energy Talks – Leveraging Private Sector Investment to Speed Up Renewable Energy Deployment in Africa

Knowledge Facilitation Thriving Political Dialogue

The fifth AEEP Energy Talks on 30 June 2021, 14.00 – 15.45 (CEST) will bring together African and European experts to debate mobilising private investment in renewable energy to advance a sustainable energy transition in Africa. 

Over 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The 2030 Sustainable Development Goal number 7 does not only call for action to provide energy access for all, but access to clean, affordable and sustainable energy.  

Harnessing the rich renewable energy sources available in Africa are pivotal for achieving these goals. Africa has immense solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal and biomass potential. The IEA estimates that the continent has the richest solar resources on the planet and, yet, less than one per cent of total global capacity, or 5 GW of solar PV, can be found in Africa.  

Investment into generation, transmission and distribution capacity is needed for an optimal use of these abundant resources. Public finance into renewable energy projects in Africa is, however, expected to stay relatively low, around 15 per cent. Therefore, European and African private capital must be engaged. Estimates show that 65 billion euros of yearly investments could enable a generation capacity of 601GW before 2040 and thus secure energy access for all in Africa. 

The upcoming AEEP Energy Talks will discuss and share experiences from programmes such as Get.invest and renewAfrica on how to support private investment in renewable energy projects and build pipelines of viable investment projects in Africa.  

After opening remarks by the European Commission (EC) and the African Union Commission (AUC), Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics at the African Development Bank, will give a presentation about the key role the private sector has in securing Africa´s sustainable energy future. GET.invest’s technical advisor, Ms Ilham Talab, will talk about European instruments that accelerate the energy transition in Africa and Mr Roberto Vigotti, General Secretary, RES4Africa Foundation will give insights on how to enable conditions to deliver deep RE investment in Africa. 

The presentations are followed by a panel discussion including: 

Ms Louise Paulsen, MD Vestas South Africa 

Ms Liesbet Mijlemans, ElectriFI

Mr Antonio Passero, Sub Saharan Program Manager, RES4Africa Foundation 

Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics, African Development Bank

Ms Ilham Talab, Technical Advisor, GET.invest  

The Energy Talks will be moderated by Mr Bonney Tunya, BBC News. 

Download the full draft agenda here. 

Interested in joining? Please subscribe here to receive further information. 

By registering for this webinar, I agree to subscribe and receive updates from the AEEP. 

The AEEP is supported by its Steering Group: