WORLD SOLAR COMMISSION

WORLD SOLAR PROGR.AMME1996-2005.- AFRICA

(ASP)

MECHANISMS OF IMPLEMENTATION

(An Outline)

Document prepared by the Secretariat of the Worid Solar Commission4 November 1999 Original: French

WORLD SOLAR COMMISSIONMAISON DE L'UNESCO - SCIEST- 1, rue Miollis 75732 Paris Cedex 15 - France

Tel: +33 1 45 68 39 01 / Fax: +33 1 45 68 58 21 1 E.mail:solar@unesco.orgWEB SITE: http./twww.woridsolar.org

Health centre of the village of Kone-beri (Republic of Niger):.photovoltaic panels for refrigeration (medicine conservation) and lighting.solar water heaterparabolic solar cooking reflector to sterilize medical instruments

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SUMMARY

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Introduction

A - Energy Situation in Africa

I - Current Situation of Energy Use in AfricaII. - Potential of Renewable Energies in AfricaIII. - Renewable Energies for Development

B - General context of Africa and ASP objectives

C - African high priority projects

D - Implementation mechanisms

E - Financing mechanisms

I - Needs AssessmentII - ASP BudgetIII - Lines of actionIV - General Approaches for the financing of the HPNPV - Projects already financed or for which financing is on progress

F - Evaluation mechanisms

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ACRONYMS and ABBREVIATIONS

ADB: African Development BankASC: African Solar CouncilASP: World Solar Programme : 1996-2005 : Africa (African Solar Programme)HPNP: High Priority National ProjectIDB: Islamic Development Bankkoe: kilo oil equivalentkWh: kiloWatthourNGO: Non Government Organisationtoe: ton oil equivalentUN: United NationsUNDP: United Nations Development ProgrammeUNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganisationUNCED : United Nations Conference on Environment and DevelopmentUS: United States of AmericaW: WattWh: WatthourWp: Watt peakWSC: World Solar CommissionWSP: World Solar Programme 1996-2005WSS: World Solar SummitWSSP: World Solar Summit Process

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Introduction

The World Solar Summit Process (WSSP) was carried out in accordance with therecommendations of the High-Level Expert Meeting "The Sun in the Service of Mankind", heldin Paris in July 1993. This process aimed, inter alia, at giving a political impetus to thedissemination of renewable energies through the organisation of a World Solar Summit.

The term "solar" is generic, as it includes all renewable energies (solar thermal,photovoltaic, wind, biomass, tidal, ocean, microhydro, etc.; geothermal energy is also included).

Within the framework of the WSSP, UNESCO has proposed to include in the final reportof the UN Secretary-General's Special Initiative for Africa, a programme entitled "SolarHighway for the Sustainable Development of Africa" in order to promote the scientific andtechnological development of renewable energies in Africa.

Statistics show that 81% of African population don't have any access to electricalnetworks. Furthermore, this population cannot expect to have electricity on a short nor mediumterm basis because the extension of existing power grids is not economically viable or evenimpossible to achieve in practical terms.

Aware of disastrous effects of humankind actions on the planet's environment, the UnitedNations organised in June 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UN Conference on Environmentand Development (UNCED), also known as "Earth Summit", in order to review the strategies toreconcile world development with environmental protection. From this Conference emerged aninternational programme known as "Agenda 21" that should guide the coming of a sustainableglobal development on the eve of the 21st century.

The "Audience Africa" meeting, held at UNESCO Headquarters in February 1995,recommended the wide utilisation of solar energy to improve the living conditions in the ruralareas of Africa, as well as to contribute to poverty eradication through employment creation andrevenue improvement.

The Executive Board of UNESCO approved in 1994 the creation of a World SolarCommission (WSC) to provide high-level leadership and guidance in the preparation of theWorld Solar Summit and to achieve the objectives of the WSP. Heads of State and Governmentfrom Austria, People's Republic of China, Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy,Jamaica, Malaysia, Niger, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and thePalestinian Authority are members of the World Solar Commission, under the chairmanship ofH.E. Robert Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. In 1995, a body composed ofpersonal representatives of members of the World Solar Commission was created to facilitatedaily administrative and operational matters, and to prepare the ground for the Commission'sdecisions.

The United Nations Secretary-General welcomed the development and implementation ofthis UNESCO initiative as a joint effort of the UN system and underlined that the World SolarSummit Process would make a distinct contribution to the work of the United Nations and thesystem as a whole in support of sustainable development. Two UN inter-agency consultationmeetings took place at UNESCO Headquarters prior to the World Solar Summit.

A WSSP International Organising Committee supervised the preparatory activities leading to the

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World Solar Summit and the launching of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005. TheEngineering and Technology Division (SC/EST) of UNESCO serves as the WSC Secretariat.

In order to attain the objectives defined by the World Solar Commission and sensitisegovernments, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, financial institutions, the academicworld and the private sector on the stakes of the objectives, the World Solar Summit (WSS) metin September 1996 in Harare, Zimbabwe. The WSS adopted the following two importantdocuments :

- the Harare Declaration, by which the Heads of State and government committedthemselves to work towards the wider use of renewable energies to enhance theeconomic and social development of their countries;

- the outline of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005 that determined the objectivesto be reached in the mastery and utilisation of renewable energies.

The World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (WSP) was approved on 23 June 1997 by theWorld Solar Commission at its second session, held in New York on the occasion of the specialsession of the UN General Assembly devoted to review and evaluate the implementation ofAgenda 21, known as "Earth Summit + 5"

By the decisions taken by its Executive Board, UNESCO has reaffirmed the importancethat should be given to the implementation of the African component of the World SolarProgramme 1996-2005 and the launching of the African Solar Council.

The General Conference of UNESCO, at its last session held in October-November 1997,endorsed the decisions of the Executive Board and underlined the priority to be attached to theWSP, notably to its Global Renewable Energy Education and training Project, and invitedgovernments to contribute to the successful implementation of the WSP.

Lastly, by its resolution 53/7, adopted on 16 October 1998, the General Assembly of theUnited Nations has endorsed the WSP as a contribution to the overall sustainable developmentagenda and has invited all States Members of the UN to contribute to the successfulimplementation of the WSP.

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A - Energy Situation in Africa

In its different forms, energy constitutes the engine of human activities, and even of lifeitself. In this sense, it constitutes an indispensable condition of all human development and oneof the best indicators of process of development of countries. Therefore, energy supply is a first-rate stake of development. In this chapter, the following matters will be studied:

- the current situation of energy use in Africa and the close link which exists betweenthe level of development and the rate of consumption of energy;

- the potential of the African continent in the field of renewable energies;

- the contribution that these forms of energy can bring to the energy supply of Africancountries.

I - Current Situation of Energy Use in Africa

In order to better emphasize the importance of electrical energy in total energyconsumption, this paragraph distinguishes, on the one hand, global energy consumption and, onthe other hand, the access of the Africans to electricity.

1. Global Energy Consumption

In Africa, the consumption of commercial energy per capita is very low and is about 670 koein 1996 (for a group of 23 countries with 81 % of the population of the continent. This quantityof energy represents respectively only 51 % of that of countries of middle income and 13 % ofthat of developed countries. Similarly, as it is specified in paragraph A.I.2, the annual electricalproduction per capita is low and is about 493 kWh.

The energy consumption of Africa is also characterized by the predominance of fuelwoodenergy and its by-products (charcoal and agricultural wastes). This form of energy represents 77% of the total energy consumption (for a sample of 34 countries representing 55 % of the totalAfricans while, in the developed countries, biomass contribution is about 35 %1. A survey,carried out in 10 African countries, in 1992, shows that the wood represents 95 % of the energyconsumption of households.

Weakness of energy consumption leads in practice to the heavy use of human and animalforces for the satisfaction of daily needs such as fetching water, transportation, cultivating theland, etc., with weak ratio productivity, particularly in time wasting.

In addition, the excessive consumption of wood, as a source of energy, constitutes, for manyAfrican countries, a serious problem of environmental threat. In fact, in these countries, thesampling rate is too more important than the natural regeneration rate of biomass. Therefore, aprocess of continuous desertification is created whose harmful effects manifest themselves nowat the level of climate: drought, land erosion, extinction of species, etc.

1 M.C. Mapako, AFREPREN, "Business and Investment forum for Renewable Energy in Africa".

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2. Access of Africans to electricity

Due to the numerous and important services linked to it, notably in the fields of health,education, communication, development of craft industry, etc., electricity play an important partin the classification of energy consumption. Thus, it is generally accepted that electricity, due toits importance, constitutes the main criterion for distinguishing urban and rural areas.

The rate of access to electricity of the African people is very weak and is estimated at 19% in 1992 (for a group of 40 countries representing 92 % of the total sub-saharian Africanpopulation). By applying this rate of 19 % to the population of the continent, which is 741million people, one finds that about 600 million inhabitants have no access to this form of energy(figure A.4). This rate, already weak, is still difficult to maintain since the increase of the totalpopulation between 1970 and 1990 has been 1.4 times higher than the increase of the populationhaving access to electricity during the same period, in sub-saharan Africa. It can be observed thatsub-saharan Africa, South Asia and the group Middle East - North Africa are regions of theworld where the number of people with no access to electricity is progressing.

The rate of electrification of 19 % hides a deep disparity between African countries ofwhich more than half have a rate of electrification, which is lower than 10 %. Among thesecountries, 13 have a rate of electrification between 2 and 5 %. In addition, it can be observed thatonly 5 countries, notably Algeria, Egypt, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tunisia, have reached theinternational objective of a rate of electrification of 80 %. On the whole, Africa reaches only aquarter of this objective.

In addition to the electrification rate, one must also take an interest in the production ofelectricity per capita, which not only reflects the rate of electrification but also the level ofindustrialization of countries. As mentioned in paragraph A.I.1, the annual production ofelectricity per capita is weak and is about 493 kWh. For the sub-Saharan Africa, excluding SouthAfrica and Nigeria, the figure falls to 127 kWh a year per capita. This number is to be comparedto the annual production of a solar standard module of 50 Wp, which is about 90 kWh. Thus itappears clearly that a large diffusion of modules of solar cells is able to double the electricalproduction of the continent.

Similarly to the rate of electrification, the electricity production per capita contains alarge disparity between countries. Thus, one realizes that 70 % of the 47 countries presentedhave an electrical production below 200 kWh a year and per capita.

II. - Potential of Renewable Energies in Africa

The African continent is endowed with a huge potential of renewable energies theexploitation of which has hardly begun. Subsequently, the following will be dealt with:

- hydro-electricity,- solar energy,- wind energy,- biomass.

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1. - Hydro-electrical Potential

Hydro-electrical energy represents 21 % of the total electrical power capacity installed inAfrica, in 1992, e.g. 20,206 over 96,904 MW. In addition, one can observe that 77 % ofelectrical power stems from thermal sources, which is not with out consequences on theenvironment, notably concerning the production of harmful gases (CO2, NOx, SO2, etc.). In fact,a non-negligible part of the electricity is produced from coal for which the discharges in thesegases are more important than for the diesel power stations. This does not take into account theelectrical production of South Africa where the contribution of coal is an important one.

On the other hand, the continent is endowed with an important hydro-electrical potentialestimated at more than 436,000 MW. The current capacity of power production represents hardly5 % of the available potential. An easy calculation shows that a systematic use of the hydro-electrical potential can, by itself, multiply the whole current capacity of production by 5.5. Inaddition, it can be noticed that Africa is the region of world where the proportion of hydro-electricity is the lowest: 5 % versus 90 % for Europe, 45% for North America, 20 % for Asia andSouth America.

A recent study2 showed that in Southern Africa, the Cahora Bassa dam, on the Zambezeriver in Mozambique, which during twenty years worked at 1 % of its capacity, and the Ingadam, on the Congo river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are in a position to supplytogether up to 10,000 MW in the near future. This capacity, once mobilized, could save annually:

- 13 million tonnes of CO2,- 142,000 tonnes of SO2

- 60,000 tonnes of NOx.

In this example, one can appreciate concretely the important role that hydro-electricitycan play in the policy of preservation of the earth's environment.

Thus this hydro-electricity potential constitutes an important terrain favourable to thedevelopment of micro and mini-hydro-electricity for rural electrification.

In terms of cost one must recall that the kWh ranges from 0.04 to 0.07 US$ for largeinstallations. For small installations, in terms of W installed, the cost varies from 1.5 to 3 US$.

2. - Solar Energy

While looking at the world map of solar resources, one observes that 47 % of surface areaof the continent benefits from an annual solar radiation higher than 2,100 kWh/m² (table A.1),27 % between 1,900 and 2,100, and the remaining of 26 % between 1,500 and 1,900. It can alsobe noticed that the highest values of the solar radiation correspond to the most densely populatedareas of the continent, with exception of Sahara and Kalahari deserts. Thus all the geographicalparameters are favourable to a large use of solar energy.

2 Pedro de Sampaio Nunes, Business and Investment Forum for Renewable Energies in Africa, Harare, 29-31 March1999.

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Table A.1Solar Radiation Values in Africa

Solar Radiation Value inkWh/m²/year

Higher than 2.100 1.900 to2.100

1.500 to 1.900

Area Percentage 47 % 27 % 26 %

ObservationsDesert regions anddensely-populatedoutskirts

Regionssavannah,densely-populated

Forest regions,sparely populated

Despite these geographical conjunctions and the pressing needs of the population (seeparagraph B), the use of solar energy still remains marginal.

There are presently many methods of utilization this form of energy and the mostcommonly used are:

- photovoltaic solar electricity, for water pumping, lighting, refrigeration,telecommunications, etc. (see table A.2). The kWh cost varies from 0.54 to 3.48US$, according to the type of installation, while the Wc installed costs between 10and 20 US$;

- thermal power station utilizing cylindro-parapolic concentrators, which are now themost competitive mode of utilization of solar energy on grid;

- the drying of food products;

- the solar heating under the forms of water-heater, home heating, etc.;

- the solar cooking where many types of appliances are available. But the mostpromising technology is that of parabolic concentration;

Table A.2Ordinary Applications of Photovoltaic Solar Electricity

Type of Application Usage CapacitySolar Home System (SHS) Lighting, Radio or Television sets power supply,

etc. 5 à 200 WcInstitutional PV System Electrification of community centres (Health,

culture, education, worship, etc.)100 à 500 Wc

Pumping PV System Lifting of safe water or water for irrigationpurposes

0,2 à 6 kWc

Telecommunications Power supply to relay stations 0,2 à 25 kWcElectrical Micro-Power Station Electrification of a village 5 à 100 kWcSome parts have been taken from A.M. Dahouenon, GTZ-Senegal, and Z. Koïta, SENELEC, Senegal

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3. Wind Energy

While observing the world map of wind energy resources, it can be noticed that Africa isconstituted of three zones of decreasing productivity going from the coast to the interior of thecontinent, as summarized in table A.3.

Table A.3.Productivity Zones

Productivity of windEnergy (in kWh/kWper year)

Considered Zones

> 5.000 The coasts of Southern Africa (Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique)3.750 to 5.000 The coasts of West Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,

Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania) and Morocco2.250 to 3.750 The coasts of North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt), of Sudan,

Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia750 to 2.250 All the rest of the continent with the exception of the continental core< 750 The continental core

Thus, one observes that, in 50 % of the coastal regions, a large-scale utilization of windenergy is possible. In comparison with solar energy, wind energy provides more possibilities, atminimum cost, of a large-scale production of electrical energy on connected or stand-alone grid.Where conditions are less favourable, wind energy fits in also to small-scale utilization for waterpumping or electrification of small villages.

One must mention that the range of capacity of wind-turbine is very wide and goes from500 kWh for the synchronic models, which fit to grid, to 100 W to 10 kW for stand-alonemodels.

The cost of the kWh varies from 0.07 to 0.2 US$ according to the size of the installationwhile the installed W costs between 2 and 8 US$.

4. Biomass, Rationalisation and Preservation

As mentioned in paragraph A.I.1, biomass is currently the first source of energy in Africa.With the exception of zones with a fragile ecological balance, such as the Sahel regions, thecontinent has an appreciable capital of biomass. But these resources are not inexhaustible and theweight of demography of the continent is now reducing the capacities of natural regeneration.Consequently, in many countries, the sampling rate is by far higher than the regeneration one. Soit is indispensable to take the appropriate measures to preserve the renewable aspect of thissource of energy.

To this end, the WSP 1996-2005 has foreseen a Global Programme entitled "Initiative onbiomass" intended rightly to preserve the renewable character of biomass through the followingactions:

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- rationalisation of the utilization of wood as a source of energy;- recuperation of vegetal, animal or household wastes;- regeneration of exploitable resources,- etc.

There are currently many modern methods of utilisation of biomass and the most used amongthem are:

- anaerobic fermentation of organic matters coming from vegetal or animal wastes for theproduction of biogas, mainly composed of methane (55 to 85 %). On the average 5 kg oforganic matters provide 1 m3 of biogas. This technology is quite simple and makes itpossible to retrieve wastes for the production of combustible gas. This gas can be usedfor food cooking, lighting or fuel supply of electricity generators;

- production of fuel stemming from alcohol (ethanol) or their ethers (ethyl-thirdly-butyl-ether) from fermentation of simple sugars, extracts of plants containing saccharose (beet,sugar cane, etc.), starch (potato, cereals, etc.) or ligneous-cellulosic (fibres, straw, wood,etc.). This fuel can be used in engines like ordinary oil;

- gasification through pyrolysis of wood for getting combustible gases (monoxide ofcarbon, hydrogen, etc.) which can be used as bio-fuel in engines. In this field, there aregenerators, of a 100 to 500 kW capacity, providing electricity from wood, with anefficiency of about 20 %3. Thus 2 kg of wood can provide up to 1 kWh of electricity bythis process;

- extraction of vegetal oils such as rape-seed oil or oil of pourghere. In this field, Mali hasa long experience of experimental utilization of oil of pourghere as bio-fuel;

- improved stove. This technique is quite diffused in many African countries. It consists inreplacing the low efficiency traditional stoves (efficiency around 5 %) by better designedstoves with higher efficiency (up to 35 %).

All these technologies, with exception of the last one, can be envisaged for ruralelectrification in regions where the raw material (wood, organic wastes, specific plants) is widelyavailable.

The technique of improved stove permits, in one hand, to save wood-fuel and, in the otherhand, to cook outdoors with a good efficiency while avoiding to put himself at risk of theharmful effects of smokes (eyes burning, smoke inhaling, etc.).

III. - Renewable Energies for Development

Given that 66 % of the African population lives in rural areas, the problem ofdevelopment merges almost entirely with that of rural development.

It can be noticed that the more the GNP per capita of a country increases the more the

3 Systèmes solaires, n°127 - 1998 - 29

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proportion of biomass in the global budget of energy decreases in favour of other modernsources of energy. This shows clearly how close development is linked to utilization of modernsources of energy.

Two third of the African population living in rural areas has no access to adequate healthservices and education, due to, to a large extent, lack of modern sources of energy, particularlyelectricity. They have also to devote their precious time and energies to daily chores such asfetching of water, firewood, etc.

Thus, not only can they not use all their abilities, due to a lack of education and healthservices, but also they waste an important part of their time in inappropriate chores. The overloadof the daily activities leads to the excessive use of children who, consequently, can not devoteenough time to studies, even if they are lucky to have access to school. Thus, the cycle of under-development closes up.

As it is currently unthinkable to make electrical grid available to the African ruralpopulation, it is more than necessary to turn to renewable energies. These sources of energyhave, in comparison with conventional energies, three important advantages, which make themthe best means for a sustainable development of the mankind:

- their almost omnipresence. The omnipresent character of renewable energies allow toreach, with less cost, rural or isolated populations and to make available to them essentialservices (health, education, safe water, communications, craft industries, etc.) which theyneed for their development;

- their non polluting character. It offers the advantage of delivering the same serviceswithout the drawback of discharging greenhouse effect or polluting gases. Thus thequality of the environment, human and animal health, etc. are preserved. Although theover-costs related to these nuisances doesn't yet appear in the structure of the price ofenergy, the goal of sustainable development must take it into account;

- their renewable character. Under these conditions, one doesn't mortgage, in any way, thefuture of following generations in the utilisation of the available resources of the earth.

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B – General Context of Africa and ASP objectives

The African continent has a population of 708 million, characterised by a high growthrate of 2.7 % per annum, resulting in a doubling of the figures every 26 years. The per capitaincome is low, around US$ 500 per annum. On the eve of the 21st century, the continent still shows clear signs of underdevelopment,the following being the most important:

- predominance of rural communities. 66 % of the African population, i.e. 467 millionpeople, live in rural areas;

- low rates of use of modern forms of energy. This item has been widely detailed inparagraph A, but can be briefly recalled: very weak consumption of commercial energyper capita (670 koe per year), very low rate of access to electricity (19%, which meansthat 81 % of people are not connected to electrical grid) and weak electrical productionper capita (493 kWh);

- the destruction of the environment to meet energy needs. This item has also beendetailed in paragraph A;

- the low rate of access to basic services such as safe water, health care, education, etc.

For its development the continent needs a population in good health and with goodliteracy skills. However, this modest objective is still out of reach for many Africancountries, as shown by the following figures :

• only 44 % of the population has access to drinking water; the remainder 56 % isexposed to the numerous water-transmitted illness (such as cholera, guinea worm,etc.). Others among these have to walk many kilometres or to pull from a deep well tohave water;

• health coverage is less than 30 % in 12 countries, between 30 and 59 % in 45 othersand it is above 60 % in only three countries.

• vaccination coverage protecting children against the devastating epidemics of infantillnesses, is below 50 % in 14 countries, between 50 and 80 % in 22 others et above80 % in only nine countries.

In accordance with the Harare Declaration, which recognises the significance of the role thatrenewable energy sources, as well as energy efficiency, can play in the provision of energyservices and in the sustainable use of environmental resources for the well-being of humanity,the ASP has essentially two objectives :

- to contribute as much as possible to solving the problems of underdevelopment throughthe mastery and the exploitation of the available potential of renewable energies inAfrica;

- to remedy or prevent the energy utilizations having a negative impact on the environmentthrough making available to the population the access to clean and non-polluting sourcesof energy.

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In this perspective, the ASP should concentrate its actions around the five globalprogrammes identified by the WSP, which are the following :

- education and training in renewable energies ;- creation of renewable energy information and communication systems;- production of rural energy (through electrification) ;- development of local industrial capacities, as well as capacities for research and

development for renewable energies ;- initiative as regards biomass.

C – The African High Priority Projects Within the framework of the WSP, the African countries have presented so far 260national high priority projects that correspond perfectly to the above-mentioned classificationinto five global projects. The breakdown of these projects according to the five globalprogrammes is as follow :

- education and training in renewable energies : 15 projects have been submitted, ofwhich 4 concern the creation of training institutes and 11 deal with the elaboration andimplementation of training programmes in existing institutions;

- collection and dissemination of information : 32 projects comprise several domains,such as studies of reserves, feasibility or marketing of renewable energies, preparation ofa plan to promote uses of these energies or savings of the traditional energies, creation ofdata banks, the establishment or enhancement of a centre of data collection andinformation dissemination, and the organisation of international conferences.

- Increasing the utilisation capacity of renewable energies : 151 projects touch uponseveral aspects, such as rural or urban electrification, integrated demonstration solarvillages, safe or fresh water supply, equipment of social centres (health, education orculture), massive utilisation of solar thermal appliances (water heaters, cookers, dryers),telecommunications, cold storage for agricultural and food products, irrigation orconditioning of farms, solar architecture and protection of wildlife.

- creation or development of local industrial or research and development capacities :33 projects have been submitted, of which 11 concern the development of industrialcapacities and 22 research and development.

- initiatives on biomass : there are 29 projects in this field. They concern the production,savings or substitution to firewood, the production of biogas and the utilisation ofvegetable oil, alcohol or waste as energy source.

All the projects submitted up to date are not at the same level of preparation. Therefore, theyhave been ranked in four levels, on the basis of the information available in the Secretariat of theWorld Solar Commission.

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level 1 :

It indicates the status of a project for which only the title and a brief information areavailable. There are 53 projects at this level, i.e. 20 % of the total.

level 2 :In this case, a fact sheet, more or less complete, exists on the project. A complete factsheet includes six essential elements of information, as follows :

• title of the project• organisation in charge of the project• site the project• duration of implementation• summary description of the project• estimated budget

Here there are 127 projects, or 49 % of the total.

level 3 :This level indicates the status of a project for which a more detailed document exists. Thenumber of projects, which attained this level, is 55, i.e. 21 % of the total.

level 4At this level are projects already financed or about to be. To this date, 26 projects havereached this level, i.e. 10 % of the total. These financed projects are reviewed undersection D.II below.

D – Implementation Mechanisms The implementation of these projects requires the establishment of co-ordinationstructures, both at the national and inter-African level in order to ensure the optimum utilisationof all the resources indispensable for their execution. In this respect, the following actions shouldbe carried out or strengthened:

- the effective installation of an African Solar Council (ASC), whose chairman is HisExcellency Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic of Senegal, Member of the WorldSolar Commission and the definition of its statutes and rules, as well as its actionprogramme;

- setting up national and sub-regional structures. In its recommendations, the African SolarForum held in Bamako (Mali), in March 1998, invited "participant countries to speed upthe establishment of national solar councils" and urged "inter-states bodies to set upregular co-ordination procedures, both with the World Solar Commission and theAfrican Solar Council";

It is recommended to associate NGOs and the civil society in general to the execution ofASP projects in order to better sensitise them on the possibilities that solar energy can offer. Theco-ordination bodies should also strive to interest and sensitise the private sector in order toincrease as much as possible the possibilities of having a large supply of the solar equipmentmarket. When required, these structures should also assist the private sector to establish contacts

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with foreign bodies.

In the execution of projects, priority should be given to pilot and demonstration projects,which should be the subject of wide publicity in order to sensitise all actors concerned. E – Financing Mechanisms

I. - Needs Assessment

To make electrical power accessible to rural populations, it can be proceeded by gridsextension, interconnected or not, or by the method of "Solar Integrated Village". The lattermethod, which is the less expensive and the most adapted to renewable energy scales, consists ofmeeting the essential energy needs (such as water supply, vaccine conservation, lighting of socialcentres, communication, etc.) in rural areas using solar energy, generally photovoltaics or wind.Figure 2 gives the estimated cost for a standard village of 2,500 inhabitants, according to thismethod. Given that the average cost is about US$ 86,000, the global cost is :

US$ 86,000 X 187,600 villages = US$ 16,133,600,000, e.g. US$ 16 billion

This calculation doesn't take into consideration the demographic evolution of thecontinent. In fact, in order to maintain constant the number of Africans who haven't any access toelectricity and then have a tangible result, it is necessary to invest, every year, 2.5 % of the abovementioned needs, e.g. :

US$ 16.133.600.000 X 2.5 % = US$ 403,340,000 $US

This method of grid extension gives a cost which is 3 to 4 times higher.

II. - ASP Budget

Among the 260 projects submitted by the States, 188, i.e. 72 % of the total, have beenbudgeted. The global amount is US$ 1,387 million for an average of 7.38 million per budgetedproject.

On the basis of a calculation allocating an average of US$ 10 million to each of the 56countries of the continent, the ASP has determined that a realistic objective would be themobilisation of US$ 600 million for Africa for the duration of the programme. This modestfigure represents 43 % of the total budget of the high priority budgeted projects, but only 4 % ofthe actual needs of the continent. Taking into consideration the population evolution, this figurerepresents the investment necessary to meet the increasing need of electric power during oneyear and half.

The figure of US$ 10 millions represents, on one hand, a little more than the mean cost ofthe projects submitted by the States (US$ 7,38 million) and, on the other hand, on average, thesolar equipment cost for 100 villages of 3,000 inhabitants each.

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III. - Lines of action

To mobilise the amount of US$ 600 millions, the ASP foresees the following actions for eachof the actors involved: a) African governments In keeping with the commitments included in the Harare Declaration, the Africangovernments should give themselves the means to execute the projects included in the ASP. Inorder to honour their commitments and to better interest the external donors, the highestgovernmental authorities should be more involved, in the following ways :

- resorting to the use of renewable energies in the regional and national developmentprojects (agriculture, health, education, etc) and the registration of these projects inthe national development plans;

- creation of national funds for renewable energies that would serve as counterparts tothe external financing of projects ;

- adoption of legislation to reduce the import taxes on renewable energy equipment ;

- in the case where a project fact sheet exits, preparation of full project documents inthe format required by financial institutions;

- submission of financing requests, supported by the above mentioned documents, tothe potential donors in respect of the projects included in the ASP. To this end,governments should inquire of these donors what are the appropriate rules andprocedures;

- promote the interest in renewable energies of the NGOs present in each country forthe purpose of obtaining their participation in the execution of the ASP. In addition tothe important roles to be played by NGOs referred to in section C, micro-creditmeasures can have noticeable effects on the acquisition of equipment by rural andperi-urban populations both as regards renewable energy materials and training ofmaintenance technicians;

- concertation and collaboration between African Institutes concerned with renewableenergies to exchange their experiences, to create together data bank and to launchjointly educational or research programmes.

b) African Solar Council (ASC) In accordance with its co-ordinating role on the measures taken by the African countriesfor the implementation of the ASP, the ASC should, together with the governments, take thefollowing actions :

- encourage the creation of national solar committees in African countries;

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- maintain contacts with the financing institutions (such as UNDP, the AfricanDevelopment Bank, the European Union, IDB, etc.) in order to facilitate the financing ofASP projects;

- give the national bodies responsible for the national high-priority projects the meansneeded to prepare and present their projects in a manner that can interest the financinginstitutions and donors.

c) Secretariat of the World Solar Commission In accordance with its central role for the activities of the WSP, the Secretariat of theWorld Solar Commission should collaborate with the ASC in the preparation of the high prioritynational projects, and with the governments and the international financing bodies for financingthe projects having the required documents.

IV. - General Approaches for the financing of the HPNP

The financing procedure of the HPNPs is a process, which describes the development ofthe projects from their identification to their financing by the sponsors. The main stages are thefollowing:

a) - Identification of projects

At the initial stage of identification and formulation of the HPNPs, the following actorsmay participate:

- public organizations (ministries, public institutions, local authorities, etc)- semi-public organizations ( State-owned companies, etc)- the private sector (private companies, associations, NGOs, etc)

The organism, initiator of the project should elaborate a solid project document whichcontains all necessary information, not only in order to draw the attention of the sponsors to it,but also, to give a complete idea of the project. For this purpose, a guideline for the preparationof projects has been set up and appears in this document; it can be summarised as follows:

- the problem to be solved: presentation of the problem, localisation of sites, ifpossible with maps and photos, the context of the problem, etc.

- project infrastructure : organism responsible (indicating the person in charge),scientific and socio-economic objectives, target groups, expected results, risks taken,etc.

- recommended technical solutions : equipment needs, etc- planning of the execution of the project: different stages of execution, detailed

budget, etc- project resources: human resources, financial resources (public contribution,

participation, external resources, etc), material resources available (premises, etc) andinformational resources.

- plan of evaluation of the project.

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The presentation of the project document varies according to the sponsors, but in general,the project document contains the same information.

b) - Processing of the HPNPs at the national level

Before their submission to the Secretariat of the WSC, the HPNPs should first beapproved by national Authorities to justify their ‘national high priority” character. In countrieswhere there is a National Solar Committee (NSC), this NSC is the appropriate organ, which canrecognize the importance of the project at the national level. In default of this, the Ministry incharge of renewable energies can accomplish this role successfully.

To increase its chance of being financed, the project still has to appear in the developmentplan of the country.

It is very useful to present all these national approaches in the foreword of the projectdocument in order to better sensitize the sponsors to the importance of the project. Afterwards,the project document must be sent to the secretariat of the World Solar Commission, which isensured by the Engineering and Technology Division (SC/EST) of the UNESCO Science Sector.It should be clearly understood that the registration of a project does not mean it will necessarilybe financed. The efforts of the WSC secretariat in their search for financing should definitely becompleted by:

- national approaches towards traditional sponsors of a country, NGO’s, nationalsponsors, etc. This approach has the advantage, on the one hand, of mobilizing fundswhich normally are inaccessible to the World Solar Commission, and on the otherhand, of increasing the number of financed projects. The countries, which aremembers of the ACP can register their HPNPs in the National or Regional IndicativeProgramme (NIP/RIP) which links States or Regions to the European Commission;

- supporting actions (such as requests, letters, etc) to support the approaches of theSecretariat. But these actions are necessary only when requested by the Secretariat.

c) International approaches

For financing national or regional high priority projects, the WSC should contact thefollowing three types of sponsors:

- institutional sponsors, especially the European Commission, the World Bank, theAfrican Development Bank (ADB), the E7, bilateral co-operation etc;

- international investors, such as Electricité de France, industrialists, etc;- The UN System, especially UNESCO, UNDP, UNIDO, etc. Indeed, these institutions

are capable, in the implementation of projects which fall within their own fields ofcompetence, to privilege the utilization of renewable energies instead of other sourcesof energy.

As for UNESCO, the Participation Programme should be a means, even a limited one, tofinance the WSP projects. Member States should bear in mind this opportunity when formulatingtheir requests related to this programme.

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Concerning UNDP, this institution, periodically, draws up a programme adapted for eachcountry, in collaboration with the national authorities. It is another occasion for States to registerthe execution of the RE projects.

Joint formulation of financing and execution between UNDP and UNESCO are alsounder study in the field. Countries should also contribute to the realization of the will expressedby these two UN agencies.

In the process to attract sponsors for the execution of RE projects, the principal meansused by the WSC consists of regional forums and direct contact.

c.1. - Regional forums

Regional forums (Africa, Mediterranean, Asia, Black Sea, etc) are regularly organized bythe WSC with the view of promoting the financing of the RE projects. Its objectives are thefollowing:

- to favour contact between the Heads of the projects and the multilateral and bilateralinternational sponsors;

- to sensitize the sponsors and the political decision-makers to the state of RE throughconferences on the preservation of the environment, case studies of projectmanagement, etc;

- to create conditions of sharing experiences between countries on the RE projects.

The Secretariat of the WSC can sometimes get directly in touch with sponsors on theopportunity of financing some projects.

c.2. - Direct contact

This concerns requests for financing, directly submitted to sponsors, taking into accounttheir policies in the matter.

V. - Projects already financed or for which financing is in progress Since the launching of the WSP, 32 national high priority projects or activities havebeen financed, totalling over US$ 35 million. These projects concern 18 African countries outof the 40 that have submitted projects.

Since these figures are still far from the US$ 600 million objective (only 6 %), a strongmobilisation of all the actors involved in the ASP is needed.

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F – Evaluation Mechanisms

With a view to setting up a complete assessment of the ASP, it is indispensable to take acertain number of measures that could facilitate this exercise. To make this assessment possible, the focal points of each country should draw up acomplete inventory of the resources (human, financial, material and information) available orbecoming available for the implementation of the ASP. Each country should also be able toprovide information on projects executed, being executed or to be executed within theframework of the ASP. The inventory of the resources and projects will enable to have a more precise picture ofthe state of development and utilisation of renewable energies. It will facilitate the inter-state co-operation of African countries in the field of these energies.