First Stakeholder Forum of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) in South Africa

 More than 250 participants from civil society, research institutions, the private sector (including financial institutions) and government institutions gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, for the First Stakeholder Forum of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) 9–10 May 2012. Participants were drawn from over 13 different EU Member States and 29 African countries. The focus of the forum was decidedly on private sector, civil society and research. In the spirit of: ‘three stakeholder groups, two continents, one joint responsibility’.Mr Martin Lugmayr, ECREEE-UNIDO expert, was invited to speak in the session on ‘How to catalyze Investment in Meso-scale Renewable Energy Projects in Africa’ and reported on the investment-related activities of ECREEE. Under the framework of the AEEP, the two continents share a commitment to a significant expansion of renewable energy in the energy mix in order to increase access to energy, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, improve energy security and form the backbone of a future low-carbon economy.At the meeting, it was agreed that the AEEP will contribute substantially to the achievement of SE4All Targets by 2030 through:• at least an additional 100 million Africans having access to modern and sustainable energy services by 2020;• additional 10,000 MW of hydro power, 5000 MW of wind power, 500 MW of solar power and tripling other renewables significantly increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix of African countries by 2020;• substantially improving energy efficiency in Africa by 2020 in all sectors, starting with the electricity sector.