SUMMARY REPORT

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Summary Report of the Regional Meeting on Sustainable Energy for African Least Developed

Countries

Table of Contents

Page

Background

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Opening Session

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Session 1 - Setting the scene - Sustainable energy investment plans in

national development strategies

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Session 2 - Financing initiatives and business plans that work

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Fireside chat with Private Sector Companies on off-grid projects

10

Session 3 - Benefitting from Global and Regional Energy Initiatives

11

Session 4 - Project Preparation Skills

12

Closing Session

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Annexes

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Background

he Regional Meeting on Sustainable

Energy for African Least Developed

Countries was organized jointly by

the Office of the High Representative for

Least Developed Countries, Landlocked

Developing Countries and Small Island

Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the

Government of the United Republic of

Tanzania, with support from UNDP Country

Office in Tanzania. The meeting was held in

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 5 to 6

December 2016. The meeting convened

approximately 150 participants including

senior officials and energy experts from the

African least developed countries, UN

system, regional organisations,

development banks, development partners,

and selected private sector partners from

both energy sector and investment sector,

as well as relevant foundations and civil

society representatives.

Aiming to accelerate the implementation of

the Istanbul Programme of Action for the

Least Developed Countries, especially in

reaching the target on energy, while

building synergies with Sustainable

Development Goal 7, the Regional Meeting

on Sustainable Energy convened LDC senior

officials and energy experts to build

national leadership in the energy sector

and create stronger multi-stakeholder

partnerships to improve access to finance.

During the meeting, financing models and

initiatives that have worked and can

accelerate the energy transition in other

LDCs were presented. Many lessons learnt

and best practices were shared in this

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regard. Also, experiences were shared on

preparing investment prospectuses and

how to enhance project development

capacities in LDCs.

Reliable and affordable access to energy is

a growth and development enabler. It is

essential for private sector development,

promoting industrialization, expansion of

trade and enhancing productive capacities

and it also has strong linkages to climate

action, health, education, water and food

security and women’s empowerment.

African LDCs are far behind other

developing countries in the level of access

to electricity and access to finance remains

a key challenge for LDCs. The main

constrains for accessing finance for

expanding modern energy include lack of

scale, lack of substantial local investment,

institutional capacity constraints, poor or

non-existent credit ratings, as well as low

project preparation capacities and skills to

deploy financing models that encourage

blended finance to attract more funds;

private and public, domestic and

international. In this regard, energy

investment plans play a critical role in

paving the way forward.

The Regional Meeting provided a unique

opportunity to share experiences and best

practices with colleagues and delegates

from countries facing similar development

challenges. Therefore, the substantive

sessions discussed and offered practical,

workable solutions on financing sustainable

energy in the least developed countries.

These solutions were discussed in the

regional context to further advance the

creation of an enabling environment for

sustainable energy through cross-sectorial

policy frameworks and end-to-end business

models.

This report will summarize the discussions

that took place over the two-day meeting.

Detailed presentations made during the

meeting can be accessed at

http://unohrlls.org/event/energy-ldc-

meeting/.

Opening Session Under-Secretary-General and High

Representative, Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya

H.E. Mr. Pekka Hukka, Ambassador of Finland to

Tanzania

Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, Resident Coordinator of

the UN in Tanzania

Hon. Sospeter M. Muhongo (MP), Minister for

Energy and Minerals, The United Republic of

Tanzania

The Regional Meeting was opened by

Under-Secretary-General and High

Representative, Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya,

H.E. Mr. Pekka Hukka, Ambassador of

Finland to Tanzania, Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez,

Resident Coordinator of the UN in

Tanzania, and Hon. Sospeter M. Muhongo

(MP), Minister for Energy and Minerals, The

United Republic of Tanzania.

Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Gyan Chandra

Acharya, expressed appreciation to the

Government and people of Tanzania for

hosting the Regional Meeting and

welcomed all senior officials from African

least developed countries, development

partners, representatives of the private

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sector and civil society, international

organisations and development banks. He

underlined that access to finance remains a

key challenge for LDCs and energy

investment plans play a critical role in

paving the way forward. Rapid energy

transition is urgently needed, as LDCs have

a significantly low average level of access to

electricity. In 2012, only 29.2 per cent of

the population in African least developed

countries had access to electricity. Also the

gap in access to electricity between rural

and urban areas remains vast: in 2012, only

13.4 per cent of the rural population had

access compared to 59.3 per cent of the

urban population.

H.E. Mr. Pekka Hukka, Ambassador of

Finland to Tanzania, focused on the rapid

technological transformation in energy

sector. He underlined that risks have been

traditionally managed by choosing only

mature and tested solutions, but the

rapidly evolving technology and subsequent

changes in competitiveness require more

confidence in research, projections,

simulations and trends. Pioneers rely on

seed funding, as well as other private

sector support programmes, which have

targeted innovative technologies and

business models, with clear potential of

scale-up.

Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, Resident Coordinator

of the UN in Tanzania and UNDP Resident

Representative emphasized that addressing

climate challenges and stabilizing the global

increase in average temperature to “well

below 2 degrees” with the ideal goal of 1.5

degrees, as called for in the Paris

Agreement, will also remain unmet without

sustainable energy. He underlined that

despite these important interlinkages, we

are still facing a number of important

energy challenges. On one hand, 1.1 billion

people in the world still live without

electricity and 2.9 billion still cook and heat

their homes by using polluting fuels like

kerosene, wood, charcoal and dung. This

lack of access has huge bearings on

economic development, people’s well-

being and prosperity. Over the past two

decades, UNDP has mobilized around a

total of US$ 2 billion in grant financing and

for sustainable energy projects worldwide

and it continues to support developing

countries through a market transformation

approach.

Hon. Sospeter M. Muhongo (MP), Minister

for Energy and Minerals, the United

Republic of Tanzania made his opening

statement, highlighting the challenges and

successes of the United Republic of

Tanzania with respect to the provision of

sustainable energy. He stressed that

sustainable energy is closely linked to

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poverty reduction and that the other 16

SDGs cannot be met without achieving SDG

7. He further stressed the role of

population growth as a main factor in

demand for modern energy, which is

rapidly increasing in Tanzania. He

elaborated that Tanzania has various

energy sources, including natural gas,

which was recently discovered, coal, and

renewables. He also outlined global energy

trends and the position of Africa in terms of

developing energy sector including the

potential of regional power trade. He

emphasised that engagement by the

private sector is needed to enhance energy

access. In this respect incentives, credits

and loans as well as guarantees are needed

to attract FDI. He also mentioned the New

Deal for Energy in Africa of the AfDB, which

has the goal to provide universal access to

electricity in Africa by 2025, thus being

more ambitious than the SDGs.

Session 1 - Setting the scene -

Sustainable energy investment

plans in national development

strategies

This session discussed the main challenges

in accessing finance for accelerating energy

transition, scaling-up the current initiatives

and the role of national sustainable energy

investment plans in energy transition. In

particular, the session focused on main

challenges in preparing the investment

prospectus and how the development of

investment prospectuses can kick start the

energy transition, by analysing the

investment requirements and identifying

potential financing routes.

SE4All Africa Hub provided an update on

the SE4All activities in Africa, including

overview of the Action Agenda and

Investment Prospectus processes. The

National SE4All Action Agendas and

Investment Prospectuses aim at defining

national objectives and actions, providing a

coordination platform for partners as well

as providing confidence to potential

investors, mobilizing resources, including

the facilitation of access to finance from

available resources of partners, establishing

an implementation structure, and tracking

and monitoring progress. SE4All Action

Agendas have been finalized in 15 African

LDCs and Investment Prospectuses in 2 of

them. Many more countries are currently in

the process of developing their plans. The

SE4All Africa Hub provides policy support

and guidance in designing the SE4All

country action process, and technical

assistance to African countries and energy

stakeholders to achieve SE4All objectives

related to energy access, energy efficiency

and renewable energy sources. He

underlined the importance of ensuring that

the process does not end once the

documents are prepared but continues

with coordinated follow-up.

In the Gambia and Tanzania, Action

Agendas have been successfully integrated

in their respective medium and long term

development planning by mainstreaming

sustainable energy access in national

policies and strategies. The Gambia joined

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the SE4ALL Initiative in June 2012 and

conducted a Rapid Assessment/Gap

Analysis with support from UNDP before it

was selected as pilot country for

development of AA and IP. The preparation

of the AA and IP was done through a

consultative process. The Gambia’s

investment prospectus includes 18 projects

at various stages of development: 7

projects classified under Access to Energy,

6 projects classified under Renewable

Energy, and 5 projects classified under

Energy Efficiency with a total project

portfolio of € 57 million in terms of need

for investment. At this stage, IP is a rolling

document within a 2-3 years timeframe.

Upcoming challenges include the creation

of an enabling framework for the active

participation of the private sector,

reviewing and updating the IP to

comprehensively reflect all the SE4All

projects and programs, the mobilization of

necessary resources for the

implementation of IP, as well as the

implementation of IP with the participation

of all the actors. Tremendous efforts were

made to engage all actors, particularly

women’s groups, the private sector, civil

society, etc. and proper coordination of

partners’ support was critical to avoid

duplication of efforts and ensure effective

collaboration with all the partners. The IP

needs to be reviewed and updated

periodically and it is very important to take

the peoples’ concerns and views into

account.

In Tanzania, the Investment Prospectus was

adopted in July 2016 and the AA and IP will

be integrated into the Ministry of Energy

and Minerals (MEM) Strategic Plan 2016–

2020 for Tanzania. The Government will

also have a national dialogue with all

stakeholders towards the adaptation,

update and alignment of the existing

initiatives with the country’s SE4ALL AA.

The IP presents the investment

opportunities that the Government of

Tanzania would like to develop to achieve

its SE4ALL objectives. The Prospectus

highlights investment opportunities in the

energy sector of Tanzania in:

Generation, transportation and

distribution of energy from various

sources;

Power infrastructure development,

rehabilitation and expansion;

Extraction of biofuels, such as ethanol

from sugar, biodiesel from palm oil and

jatropha;

Construction of petroleum pipelines and

petroleum products offloading

terminals, and development of

upcountry storage and distribution

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facilities;

Geothermal exploration and

development;

Rural electrification;

Exploration of new and renewable

energy resources;

Promotion of energy efficiency and

conservation initiatives

Learning from the experiences of Tanzania

and the Gambia, it becomes clear that

various factors play an important role in the

success of IPs. In the Gambia, the

sensitization campaign carried out on the

SE4ALL was very useful as it helped to raise

awareness of the people and their interest

in IP. The political commitment shown to

the SE4ALL initiative as well as the setting

up of a multi-sectoral committee (including

women bureau, private sector and civil

society) that coordinated the whole

process was also very crucial in facilitating

the process of preparing IPs. The Validation

Workshop held at the end of preparing the

IP was very important as it provided the

opportunity to all the actors who were

consulted during the process to review and

comment on the final product.

In Zambia, Guinea and Mali, the Investment

Prospectuses are still under development

and insights have been given into the

challenges faced by these countries. In

Zambia, Rapid Assessment and Gap

Analysis (RAGA) initially undertaken in 2012

has been revised. Main challenges in

preparing the investment prospectus have

been difficulties with the consultant who

supported the preparation of the RAGA.

While a quality output is desired, non-

adherence to work plan and schedule of

activities is hindering the progress on the

SE4All Initiative. Supervising the consultant

has been a challenge because the Ministry

was not involved in the engagement of the

consultant, the work schedule was not duly

agreed on between the ministry and the

consultant, and the ministry was not privy

to the contract and its stipulations hence

monitoring has been a challenge. Resulting

from these experiences, among others, the

following key lessons have been learnt: the

implementing institution/country should be

involved in the engagement of the

consultant; the focal point/country should

be privy to the contents of the contracts;

and the work schedule should be agreed

upon including milestones.

Mali provided valuable lessons learnt in the

coordination of projects funded by the

development partners and highlighted the

need to identify synergies of actions during

the project development phase. Also the

need to take into account the procedures

and conditionalities of different partners

was underlined together with challenges

through long negotiations on contractual

documents and long delays for notices of

no objection was discussed.

The main messages from the presentations

and stakeholder discussion in the first

session include:

Achieving sustainable energy for all

requires that African LDCs should tap

into all available sources of energy while

having medium and long-term strategy

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for transition towards green and

renewable energy.

An enabling environment and a

supportive investment climate should be

an integral part of investment

prospectus, building on comparative

advantages of the country.

The main success conditions for creating

investment prospectuses include:

involving all stakeholders (including

women’s groups), sensitization of

population, coordination of partner

support, availability of reliable data for

planning.

Investment prospectus should include:

identification of gaps; clear, ambitious

and realistic goals; risk assessment and

management; prioritization of actions;

communication/sharing of information

with the general public on the

investment prospectus; the investment

prospectus should be treated as living

document to incorporate new lessons

learned.

Developing methodologies to track and

measure progress towards SE4All targets

at country level is important.

Proper coordination of partners’ support

is critical to avoid duplication of efforts

and ensure effective collaboration with

all the partners, especially in the current

multitude of energy initiatives in Africa

(60+ high-level initiatives).

Coordination and institutionalization.

Creating or dedicating structures to

coordinate within government (including

different ministries), among

development partners, at the regional

level etc. The Action Agenda process of

the SE4All provides a platform for

coordination at country-level and

guidance for partner engagement.

A Validation Workshop at the end of the

preparation of the investment

prospectus can provide an opportunity

to all the actors who were consulted

during the process to review and

comment on the final product.

Session 2 - Financing initiatives

and business plans that work

Least Developed Countries rarely benefit

from larger financing schemes to the same

extent that developing countries do

because of the scale, lack of substantial

local investment and institutional capacity

constraints. Therefore, session 2 explored

the financing initiatives and business plans

that have been successful in bringing

transformation in the energy sector of LDCs

or other developing countries and

discussed how these initiatives can be

scaled up to achieve rapid energy

transition. The session provided case

studies on both grid and off the grid

solutions.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), which

is the largest multilateral lender and

borrower in the world, has some 450

projects each year in over 160 countries.

EIB has a long standing presence in Sub-

Saharan Africa, operating in the framework

of the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership

Agreement. Since 2003, ACP lending of

about EUR 8 billion of which EUR 1.7 billion

in energy and on average 25% of EIB

lending in Sub-Saharan Africa goes to

energy. EIB’s lending criteria for the energy

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sector includes prioritizing renewable

energy, energy efficiency, research, and

networks. EIB underlined that energy,

especially RE, remains a priority for EIB.

Scaling up is key and it requires involving

the private sector, development of well-

structured bankable deals and innovative

approaches, such as GEEREF. The EIB is also

blending loans with grants from the

European Commission and provides various

insurance options to mobilise private

investment.

In line with SDG 7 Tanzania has developed

the National Development Vision 2025 with

the main objective to transform Tanzania

into a middle income country by 2050 and

strengthening the national grid in terms of

generation and transmission capacity. The

Government of Tanzania through the Rural

Energy Agency (REA) has set a target of

providing electricity services to all villages

in Tanzania by 2021 through grid extension

and off-grid renewable energy solutions.

Several initiatives have been developed and

some of them are in various stages of

implementation (i.e. grid extension

projects, renewable energy projects, grid

connected mini grids, off grid projects,

etc.). With its vast and untapped energy

resources Tanzania is an ideal place for

clean and renewable energy solutions to

ensure sustainability of the electricity

sector. However, more financing initiatives

are needed to ensure successful

implementation of various business plans

and programmes. Tanzania also plays a

crucial role for power interconnection,

linking East African with Southern African

power pools.

Rural Energy Agency (REA) highlighted the

need to unlock domestic finance to enable

project developers carry out pre-

investment activities like feasibility studies,

socio-economic and market analysis

studies, environmental and social impact

assessment, preparation of bankable

business plans, and training and capacity

building, which are all vital elements for a

transformation of the energy sector. It was

noted that making use of existing, proven

instruments and scope offered by lending

grants and loans as well as developing

innovative instruments in cooperation with

the EU through blending is critical to the

success in energy transition.

Power Africa presented their private-

sector-led engagement approach and

highlighted the importance of working with

governments, development partners and

civil society to improve policies and

governance. Power Africa underlined two

Photo: DVatUSAID Rwanda

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strategic priorities in off the grid solutions.

First, addressing recurring market

constraints in the household energy market

by increasing access to financing and

providing technical assistance. Second,

striving to achieve scalable, cleaner

community-level solutions that offer

electricity access greater than the first tier

of task lighting. To further facilitate private

sector success, ensuring enabling

environments are supportive through

regulatory and policy regimes is equally

important.

The main messages from the presenters

and the stakeholder discussion on financing

included:

In order to expand access to energy, the

allocation of a significant share of the

national budget is needed. Increased

budget allocation demonstrates country

ownership and leadership. In this

context the effects of subsidies and

taxes/tariffs for renewable energy

equipment need to be carefully

examined.

With respect to other external sources

of concessional financing, the issue is

not only availability of finance but also

its accessibility. There is a multitude of

available funds and energy initiatives but

many are small and the time between

application and start of a project can be

long. More funding for project

preparation at the early stages is

required.

In order to attract private investors with

some concessional finance projects need

to be both economically and financially

viable. In addition to access to capital

the availability of technical and other

skills is also crucial.

Sector reforms have been crucial to

create an enabling environment for

private investment. Rules and regulation

need to be clear and predictable in

order to enable private investment. The

issue of setting electricity tariffs is very

sensitive. Tariffs should balance the

need for revenues that allow for

expenditure on maintenance and

investment but at the same time allow

for access of the poor to electricity. In

general in a high risk environment tariffs

need to be higher to attract private

sector involvement.

Blending is required to ensure

affordability of RE including de-risking.

Regional collaboration in energy

generation, trade and transmission can

help to increase efficiency in energy

production and reduce costs.

Fireside chat with Private Sector

Companies on off-grid projects

A fireside chat was organised at the end of

the first day to allow for an exchange of

experience by off grid power providers,

including Husk Power Systems, M-KOPA,

Devergy and Solarkiosks. Several providers

stressed the importance and challenges in

setting fees and tariffs. One innovative

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model was using low connection fees

taking into account limitations of poor

customers to accumulate savings.

Electricity tariffs are then calculated in line

with the expenses poor household without

access to electricity would pay for kerosene

and batteries to ensure affordability.

Providers make use of mobile technology

for tracking of devices and payments.

Challenges faced by providers include

access to finance in the start-up phase,

where grants can be used to create a track

record. Furthermore the lack of clarity and

frequent changes in regulation were

mentioned.

Session 3 - Benefitting from

Global and Regional Energy

Initiatives

Session 3 discussed how the least

developed countries can get due benefit

from the global energy initiatives, including

financing mechanisms, translating the

ambitious targets of SDG 7 and Paris

Climate Change Agreement. Furthermore,

participants debated how partnering with

the private sector and international and

regional finance institutions can effectively

advance sustainable energy goals.

The African continent has a significant

share of the world’s renewable energy

potential: hydropower, bio-energy,

geothermal, solar and wind power, for

example, only 5 per cent of Africa’s

hydropower resources are currently being

tapped. The Democratic Republic of the

Congo and Ethiopia alone—with their

dense river networks—would have the

capacity to supply most of Africa’s energy

needs, if regional interconnection energy

networks were fully leveraged to enable

the trading of electricity. Agenda 2063 sets

out several long-term objectives in

response to Africa’s energy deficit, and puts

a strong emphasis on climate resilient low

carbon production systems. It also

envisages that regional power pools will be

in place, and continental power pools (e.g.

Inga Dam) will be fully functional before

2063, making the continent well-lit and

fully powered.

At the same time, innovative, small-scale

and off-grid clean energy technologies will

play a key role in bringing power to remote

areas. Clean energy solutions involve high

initial capital costs, but are cost effective

over the longer term. Countries such as

Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have made

good progress on energy efficiency through

improvements in planning, network

upgrading, maintenance and investments in

modern technology and serve as good case

studies.

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Africa is currently witnessing a multitude of

energy initiatives, which is a very

encouraging development. Among other

initiatives the session discussed how LDCs

could better benefit from the Global

Environment Facility (GEF). It was

highlighted that out of the 34 African LDCs,

six countries have not taken advantage of

the available funds GEF has allocated to

LDCs. The difficulties LDCs face in using GEF

resources depends on multiple factors in a

RE and EE framework, including policy and

regulations, technical capacity and finance,

as RE and EE investment needs

considerable amount of co-financing. In

addition, difficulties to identify experienced

and well-resourced executing agencies as

well as underdeveloped energy

service/ESCO markets hamper the LDCs

capacities in accessing GEF funds.

The main messages from the presenters

and the stakeholder discussion on financing

included:

Africa’s poorest today pay up to 80

times more for energy than many

people in the UK and other developed

countries. The International Energy

Agency estimated that Africa needs

investments of more than $60 billion

each year to achieve universal access to

electricity by 2040.

Grid and off-grid are not alternatives but

complement each other with respect to

access to electricity in rural areas.

Decentralized renewable approaches

tend to be more cost-effective.

Innovative, small-scale and off-grid clean

energy technologies will play a key role

in bringing power to remote areas. Iin

areas where household density is low

(<50 cap/km2) any investment in larger

grid infrastructure would not be cost

competitive.

Regional power pools enable energy-rich

countries to export to other countries,

and play a critical role in achieving the

energy goals in Africa.

RE and EE investment needs a

considerable amount of co-financing.

Many donor led initiatives, such as GET

Fit and DFID’s Energy Africa Campaign

have introduced innovative approaches

to facilitating private investment into RE.

Facilitating Private Investment into RE

requires improving enabling

environment for private investments in

renewable energy projects, targeting

regulatory, institutional and financial

gaps preventing private investments and

ensuring that host government is able to

take over full responsibility to maintain

the enabling environment.

RE and EE financing is resource-intensive

and requires a long-term focus. RE and

EE projects cut across all sectors,

requiring cooperation with urban, water,

transport, agriculture, health, education

sectors. Strategies for expanding access

to energy must be fully integrated with

development plans.

Also sector reforms are crucial for

creating an enabling environment and

proper incentives for RE and EE. RE and

EE governance is also critical to ensure

strong policy/legal frameworks (e.g.,

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time-based targets with clear

accountability).

The access to clean cooking should not

be sidelined by the focus on access to

electricity as it also has a significant

impact on several SDGs.

Session 4 - Project Preparation

Skills

Session 4 reviewed how to build a robust

project pipeline needed to attract

investment and how to enhance project

preparation capacities to deploy financing

models that encourage blended finance to

attract more funds; private and public,

domestic and international. The session

further debated critical project preparation

skills needed and the role of project

preparation facilities.

Focusing on project preparation skills and

business plan development, the Frankfurt

School-UNEP Collaborating Centre gave

insights into the ideal financing process.

Lenders need to be approached with a

stable business plan and risks should be

allocated to the party best able to manage

them. Required permits and other key

documents like a Connection Agreement,

Engineering, Procurement and

Construction Contract, Operation and

Maintenance Agreement and the

Government Support and Consent

Agreement should be available. A concept

for business plan preparation was

presented by the FS – UNEP in this session.

It was pointed out that calculating the

levelised cost of energy (investment and

depreciation + financing costs + operations

and maintenance) can provide a useful

basis for comparing the generation costs of

conventional energy sources and those of

renewable energy. Net present value (NPV)

calculation should be performed and solved

in such a way that the project’s NPV is zero

for the value of the LCOE chosen. This

means that the LCOE is the minimum price

at which energy must be sold for an energy

project to break even. One disadvantage

arises from the fact that this calculation is

based on the assumption that the timing

and flexibility of electricity generation is

irrelevant.

Similar arguments were made by private

sector representatives. Mainstream

Renewable Power reflected on important

elements for success, including enabling

environment, electricity tariffs, capacity

building, developer track record, grid

availability, and addressing land risk. United

Nations Capital Development Fund

(UNCDF) underlined the importance of

mapping out project preparation facilities

(including development partners) in the

country to understand their mandate,

scope and to align synergies.

Furthermore, UNCDF outlined common

barriers, which include the lack of capital

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resources and specialized skills required to

prepare projects to be investment ready as

well as the lack of sufficient budgeted cost

and time appropriate to meet critical

project milestones.

The main messages from the presenters

and the stakeholder discussion on financing

included:

Elements for success from the private

sector point of view include enabling

environments, clear policy regime

enforced by people and not only on

paper.

Development finance is crucial to

correct market imperfections, and

support the start-up phase.

Moving a project from plan to bankable

project requires significant amount of

time and resource, feasibility study,

environmental impact assessment,

permits etc. Thus, the need to look for

partners who can help in this journey.

Mapping out all initiatives and actors in

the energy sector would be important.

Quality assurance is part of the process.

Human and institutional capacity

development is important in

implementing investment plans. Quality

assurance of training should be an

integral part of this process.

Closing Session

Progress in accelerating access to modern

electricity services will have a direct impact

on many other areas such as job creation,

improved health and empowerment of

women, and education for children. It is a

matter of finding the best and most

efficient way of using the vast resources

African LDCs have and matching the

ambitions with investments.

While donors continue to provide grant

funding, speakers in the closing session

highlighted the need to look at other types

of investment, leveraging loans and private

sector capital. To transform the energy

systems in African LDCs, a much stronger

role of private sector involvement and

investment is vital. In line with this H.E.

Roeland van de Geer, European Union Head

of Delegation, highlighted that in order to

mobilise private sector investment and

interest in the sector, an enabling

environment is required first and foremost.

He emphasized that this entails reformed

government policies and regulatory

frameworks which renders investment

sufficiently attractive. Once the rules of the

game are clearly set, investments will

follow, creating a win-win situation for all,

with increased growth and industrialisation

as a result of energy being expanded.

Ms. Virginia Blaser, Charge d’Affairs, US

Embassy, underscored that the ambitious

target of SDG 7 means that we have to

look beyond our own borders for

solutions. As an example, she highlighted

Africa Power Pool and the South African

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Power Pool that can have far reaching

impact for its own generation plans.

Significant coordination and planning has to

take place to make this connectivity a

reality, but it makes perfect sense to

redistribute power when there is a surplus

in one country and a deficit in a

neighbouring country.

Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, UN Resident

Coordinator, Tanzania, noted that the

Regional Meeting on Sustainable Energy

has clarified which direction to follow in

terms of achieving SE4ALL targets, at the

country level and many lessons learnt and

experiences have been shared between

and amongst the LDCs.

Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya noted that

meeting has provided a unique opportunity

for sharing experiences and best practices,

networking, better understating of

supportive facilities available in the energy

sector at the regional and global levels, and

formulating input to global monitoring and

follow up of the SDG7. He then emphasized

that a new and all the more challenging

phase is starting, which requires ensuring

that we translate some of the key messages

of the meeting into concrete actions. We

need to ensure that our actions make a

difference in the lives of the 950 million

citizens in the LDCs. The United Nations

looks forward to working hand in hand with

all stakeholders to make this happen.

Furthermore, Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya

expressed his deep appreciation for the

strong support by development partners

and international and regional financial

institutions and expressed his hope that

support will be further deepened in the

least developed countries, and agreed to

convey the key messages of the

deliberations back to New York.

Annexes:

I. List of Participants

II. Final Programme