The East African Community (EAC) Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, has called on development partners to support the EAC region in the implementation of bankable priority energy projects. He said this today during a roundtable meeting with the development partners on the sidelines of the ongoing Sustainable Energy Forum for East Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.
“This is a call for strong commitment to ensure that energy is available, accessible and the people of EAC enjoy it”, said Hon. Bazivamo.
“We need to to ensure energy is efficient and affordable to the citizens, and if we are to facilitate industrialization in the region, we need to elevate energy to a (human) Right for the people of the region,” Hon. Bazivamo added.
The Deputy Secretary General noted that there is need to come up with revolutionary concepts and approaches to implement projects that focus on enhancing access to energy. “It is important that we think of new ways to fast track the implementation of the various policies and strategies already developed,” he said.
Speaking at the same occasion, Mr. Robert Zeiner, Director, Austrian Development Agency noted that the Forum has provided an opportunity to establish a regional network. As partners in the effort to ensure access to energy in the East African region, he called upon the East African Governments to support the implementation of various energy policies and strategies. “We call upon political will as well as the precise identification of concrete steps towards achieving the set objectives,” he noted.
The Representative of Sustainable Energy for All, informed meeting that the institution was currently moving from designing and planning programmes and projects to creating investment for operationalization of bankable projects. ” We are reaching out to all types companies, be it large, medium or small, we are also reaching out to Government to have their priority bankable projects financed for tangible impact,” said Mikael Melin, Sustainable Energy for All Senior Energy Expert.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) further reaffirmed its commitment towards supporting the region’s energy agenda. Mr. Tareq Emtairah, Director, Energy Department UNIDO, said that UNIDO’s technical capacity and resources are available to respond to the requests of Partner States.
“It is our hope that the recommendations of the Forum will provide insight on the priority energy projects of the region and guide on where resources should be deployed,” reiterated Mr. Emtairah.
The meeting was attended by EAC, EACREEE, UNIDO, Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Sustainable Energy for All and International Solar Alliance (ISA).
