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All Africa Renewable Energy Conference for October

Africa: First African Renewable Energy Confab in Accra All Africa, BY AYUUREYISIYA KAPINI ATAFORI, 8 JUNE 2012 The first conference in Africa solely focused on off-grid renewable energy technologies will be held in Accra in October this year with a special look at applications in rural communities of developing countries…..

Several global experts, technologists and organisations like the
Director General of International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA)
and several African Energy Ministers are expected to attend the
conference.

The event, jointly organised by the Alliance for Rural Electrification
(ARE), the Economic Community of West Africa States, Regional Centre
for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and IRENA, is an official
contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All
Initiative.

The conference will be a crucial opportunity to learn about the
current status of rural electrification in Africa and developing
countries, discuss the main bottlenecks to a successful scale up of
off-grid renewable energies, highlight successful instruments and
policies from around the world, and share knowledge about innovative
financing solutions, technologies and the latest research, says the
Alliance for Rural Electrification.

Meanwhile, the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA) predicts that
Africa will be the epicentre of the global energy industry as a result
of massive investments in renewable energy technologies over the next
10 years. Participants at the annual indaba of the AREA based this
positive assumption on the massive price decline of renewable energy
technologies, recent political developments and the specific benefits
of renewable energies for off-grid regions. The conference, hosted by
the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre and the World Future
Council, gathered experts, politicians and investors from 17
countries.

Africa will be the powerhouse of the world, says Professor Salah Arafa
of the American University in Cairo and member of the AREA Steering
Committee. It will be the number one continent to do business and it
will be leading in renewable energy projects.

Major success factors for the uptake of renewable energy in Africa are
political stability and strong political will. Participants noted that
once the market faced a level playing field for all types of energy,
including fossil fuels, renewable energy will simply be the cheapest
option. AREA, therefore, called on governments to redirect fossil fuel
subsidies into renewable energy infrastructure…….
http://allafrica.com/stories/201206080731.html

June 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AFRICA, renewable