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SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
POLITICS + POLICY
+ PRICING + recipe for
= success
PARTNERSHIP Guara
Guaranteeing access to reliable, affordable energy
servic services for all Africans by 2030 is a target of UN
Secre Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Sustainable Energy
f for All initiative and leading the edge is a group
o of African heads of state, CEOs and bankers,
e explains Mohinder Gulati, COO of SE4ALL, in an
e exclusive interview with ESI Africa.
ESI Sustainable Energy for All
(SE4All) has recently launched
the African Energy Leaders Group
(AELG) in Davos. Tell us about
this group.
MG The African Energy Leaders Group
is a working group of African political and
economic leaders at the highest level,
who are pooling their complementary
skills to build momentum for a new
vision and new solutions to the energy
challenge in Africa.
Founding members including Tony
Elumelu (chairman of Heirs Holdings,
Nigeria), Aliko Dangote (Chairman
& CEO of Dangote Group, Nigeria),
Donald Kaberuka (outgoing President
grids, common energy frameworks and
targets for mutual energy security.
These leaders, whom we call ‘Energy
Champions’, seek to place energy issues
high on the agenda for Africa’s economic
advancement. ESI Why was it felt necessary to
have another group focusing on
Africa’s energy challenges?
MG The International Energy Agency
of the African Development Bank) and
a number of heads of states share a
common commitment to leveraging the
continent’s rich energy resources for the
benefit of its people and a broad-based
economic development.
A historical parallel would be the
founding of the European Union by
a small group of four to six countries
focused on expanding the economic
opportunity of their citizens by optimising
the use of energy resources and
enhancing the competitiveness of their
steel industries.
In other words, energy resource
served as the catalytic integrator of their
markets, and today there are 27 nations
in the community with interconnected
estimates some 625 million people
across sub-Saharan Africa – more than
two thirds of the total population – have
no access to electricity, and that number
is rising. Even greater numbers depend
on inefficient, hazardous fuels such as
wood or charcoal to cook or heat their
homes – 800,000 premature deaths per
year occur due to household air pollution.
Business as usual has not delivered
the needed solutions. The challenge of
‘energy poverty’, which is the biggest
barrier to removing ‘income poverty’,
needs to be confronted with a new vision
and new solutions.
Guaranteeing access to reliable,
affordable energy services for all Africans
by 2030 is a key goal. This is in line with
500W solar system in rural Uganda
powers a home, public broadcasting
system, a barbershop and video hall and
is a source of new income for the business owner.
Photo: Sameer Halai
28 ESI AFRICA ISSUE 2 2015