Brussels, 14/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is to provide an additional €5 million to encourage the use of renewable energy in Africa, ensure secure energy supplies for the continent and improve people's access to sustainable energy, announced EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs on Thursday 13 February at a high-level conference of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (11-13 February). The cash will go to the EU-Africa cooperation programme for renewable energy in Africa, a programme set up in 2010 with an initial grant of €5 million for the first three years.
“Energy is fundamental to development. No energy means no sustainable economic growth, no sustainable agriculture, no quality healthcare; no decent education. In short, no energy means no development. This is why the EU has set itself the goal to help developing countries provide 500 million people with access to sustainable energy services by 2030”, explained Andris Piebalgs.
The participants at the conference in Addis Ababa prepared their contribution to the fourth EU-African summit, due to take place in Brussels on 2 and 3 April on the theme “Investing in human beings, prosperity and peace”.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest level of electrification in the world, and more than 650 million people in the region still rely on traditional biomass for heating and cooking, but Africa has vast, unexploited renewable energy resources, such as hydroelectric power, solar energy, wind farms, geothermal energy and biomass that could provide electricity for millions of people.
At the first high-level meeting in Vienna in 2010, a series of ambitious political targets were set for the partnership for 2020 including the provision of energy access to an additional 100 million people across Africa; doubling cross-border electricity capacity; and significantly increasing the use of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. (AN/transl.fl)