This report includes the results of cold chain capacity utilization and assessment, facility energy needs assessment and recommendations for effective cold chain management for both COVID-19 vaccines as well as routine immunization coverage for Malawi.
This report covers the least-cost electrification pathways for the country to reach universal electrification, and ultimately achieve SDG7.1, accounting for the current infrastructure and demography. It provides actionable intel for private as well as public sector energy planners.
This report provides an overview of clean cooking opportunities to be achieved by 2030. By utilizing a dynamic data-driven methodology, the report identifies a mix of modern and cleaner cooking technologies and solutions to achieve SDG7.1 targets by 2030 including realization of Malawi’s SDG7 Cleaner Cooking Compact.
Today, the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) announced 13 action programmes. Steering committee members, made up of African leaders, CEOs, and carbon credit experts, met at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week to build on early momentum and set out further ambitions.
In the lead-up to COP28 ACMI’s action programmes aim to accelerate Africa’s participation in the global carbon market by:
ACMI was inaugurated in November 2022 at COP27 with a bold, long term-ambition for the continent - to reach 300 million credits retired annually by 2030. This level of ambition would unlock USD 6 billion in income and support 30 million jobs. By 2050, ACMI is targeting over 1.5 billion credits annually in Africa, leveraging over USD 120 billion and supporting over 110 million jobs.
At COP 27, USD 200 million was secured in advanced market commitments from global corporates. In addition, seven African nations signed up to develop country carbon activation plans including Burundi, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Togo. A further 7 corporate buyers and 7 countries approaching commitment to the programme demonstrate the progress made in the past two months.
During the launch of ACMI at COP27, H.E. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, said “Our people have the potential to play a unique, indispensable, and globally significant role in the prevention and mitigation of emissions, protection of crucial ecosystems and the restoration of precious carbon sinks. The urgent actualisation of these critical interventions offers humanity its best chance of prevailing in the existential contest with climate change-induced catastrophe. The good news is that the world has a golden opportunity to rapidly achieve these objectives. By developing a robust, transparent and sustainable mechanism through which a carbon credits market can yield attractive income and development opportunities for communities at the frontlines in the fight against climate change.”
Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy, states, “The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative will be a transformational opportunity for Africa, with the potential to unlock billions in climate finance to support economies while expanding energy access, creating jobs, safeguarding biodiversity, and driving climate action towards our joint Paris goals.”
Joseph Nganga, Vice President, Africa, for the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, noted, “Current levels of climate finance fall short of Africa’s needs. The continent requires US$3 trillion to implement its aspect of the Paris Agreement, yet less than US$20 billion was provided in total to Africa between 2016 and 2019. Voluntary carbon markets can play a crucial role in filling this finance gap, but its potential is far from being realised. The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative can help us achieve a more rapid and equitable energy transition for Africa, a transition that supports lives and livelihoods with clean, reliable energy while countering the existential threat of our time, climate change.”
Antonio Pedro, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, has emphasised, “Africa is at the centre of the opportunity to develop the voluntary carbon credit market in a way that accelerates climate action, fosters shared value creation and creates sustainable livelihoods for communities at this time of global economic uncertainty. To recover from the global pandemic and to address the food and energy crisis which impacts Africa the most severely, we need to rethink Africa’s economic model- shifting to invest in sustainable value chains that deliver jobs and resilience. The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative aims to provide realistic, transparent and reliable pathways for investment.”
Bogolo Kenewendo, Special Adviser Africa Director, The Climate Champions Team, said, “Africa is undoubtedly the nature-positive economic superpower of the world. With access to the global voluntary carbon market, valuing and commercialising nature assets could unlock new financing opportunities for development for Africa. This market, operating with integrity, equity and transparency, could help Africa deliver on three fronts: nature, climate and development”.
Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion COP 27 Presidency, stated, “The world has no shortage of financial resources, scientific ingenuity, and technological wherewithal to deal with the climate crisis. What has been lacking is leadership that will marshal the resources and solutions for the parts of the world that desperately need them for the sake of the protection of nature assets and actioning a just transition that will help us all attain our 1.5 degrees ambition. ACMI is designed to create space for the public & private sectors to marshal assets to financial flows”
ACMI was launched in collaboration with The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, with the support of the UN Climate Change High Level Champions.
This year Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Having started as an initiative within the UN, our sphere of influence and impact on the global sustainable energy movement have evolved greatly over the past decade.
Our 2022 work demonstrates our ability to build higher ambition, stronger policy and planning, and faster results, all of which are urgently needed to achieve affordable and clean energy for all by 2030 and net-zero emissions by mid-century.
Of course, our work would not be possible without the support and collaboration of our many partners and funders, who we would like to thank for their commitment to helping us build a better future through sustainable energy.
As the year comes to an end, now is a good time to look back at what we’ve achieved together.
Our advocacy and diplomacy work aims to build high-level political support for energy access and transition around the world. In 2022, we enabled critical dialogues on energy among global leaders and secured significant new energy commitments from governments, companies, financiers, and others.
SEforALL Forum
Co-hosted with the Government of Rwanda, the Forum brought together the global energy, climate and development communities to learn, inspire and collaborate. Our partners used this global platform as an opportunity to launch new partnerships and commitments towards the energy transition. Collectively, they announced an impressive USD 347 million in commitments over the three days in Kigali, along with the launch of several important new initiatives, including Mission Efficiency, a global coalition dedicated to improving energy efficiency.
Youth engagement at the Forum was extensive, with more than 300 youth bringing their voices to the various Forum sessions. Young people’s futures truly are at stake with the energy transition, so we make it a priority to support them in accessing today’s energy sector leaders.
Ministerial Roundtables
To foster collaboration among African countries in defining and advancing a just and equitable energy transition for Africa, we organized a Ministerial Roundtable at the Forum in Kigali. There, ten countries agreed on seven transformative actions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7, outlining them in the Kigali Communique, which signals to the global community where support is needed in Africa for energy access and transition efforts.
As a next step towards garnering this support, we held similar roundtables on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September and at COP27 in November. Importantly, the conversation at COP27 was organized as an Africa-Europe Ministerial Roundtable, which we hosted along with the Africa-Europe Foundation. African and European ministers listened to each other and strategized on how to accelerate Africa’s race towards a just and equitable energy transition while working together.
There is now greater momentum for Europe to support Africa in achieving its energy goals, something that will be aided by establishing a “Africa-Europe Energy Leaders’ Group.”
COP27
The UN climate conference was also a major moment for us because of the SDG7 Pavilion, which we again hosted with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). For the second year in a row, the pavilion was the main hub at COP for discussing and showcasing how to unite global efforts on energy, climate and development, and it served as a platform for the launch of several exciting new initiatives.
With GEAPP and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, we launched the ground-breaking Africa Carbon Markets Initiative at COP27, which aims to support the growth of voluntary carbon markets in Africa for financing clean energy access and transition. With Bloomberg Philanthropies, we also announced our partnership with the government of Ghana to develop an Energy Transition Plan that will provide a detailed, data-driven pathway for the country and its partners to achieve its energy and climate goals.
Energy Compacts
In 2022, we also continued to promote and secure Energy Compacts along with our UN-Energy partners. Launched at the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy in 2021, this platform has led to nearly 200 approved commitments towards SDG7 and climate goals. Many of these commitments are already being acted upon, with USD 46 billion in investment having already been generated, 88 GW of renewable energy capacity installed, and 2,450 GWh of energy saved through energy efficiency measures, according to the first Energy Compact Progress Report prepared by UN-Energy.
Several compacts continue to attract new signatories, including those related to No New Coal, Green Hydrogen, Powering Healthcare, and 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy, proving the value of Energy Compacts in mobilizing action.
We help countries establish policies, regulations and plans that enable sustainable energy development. In 2022, we worked directly with countries and stakeholders in their energy sectors on bespoke plans that will attract investment and technical assistance.
Energy Transition Plans
These data-driven national plans are created to identify viable pathways for countries to end energy poverty and achieve net-zero emissions while marking opportunities for stakeholders to support these efforts. Nigeria was the first country to develop such a plan in 2021, with the support of the COP26 Energy Transition Council and SEforALL.
Although it was first unveiled at COP26, the government launched the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan in August this year. At the launch, the World Bank announced it had committed USD 1.5 billion towards the plan for renewable energy, power sector reforms, clean cooking, and additional opportunities.
We are now working closely with the Office of the Vice-President in Nigeria to help attract the plan’s targeted finance and assistance. Our work is being carried out through our new office in Abuja by a specific team dedicated to supporting the government.
Ghana has already partnered with us to develop their own Energy Transition Plan in 2023, and we will pursue similar partnerships with Barbados and additional countries as we grow this important body of work with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Integrated Energy Plans
We are setting the standard for what a best-in-class integrated energy plan should be and working with partners to make sure countries harness this important framework.
The plans use geospatial data and tools to identify the efficient integration of on- and off-grid solutions for energy supply (i.e., grid extension, mini-grids, and standalone solutions like solar home systems), while also considering demand-side factors like affordability. Together, this provides vital market intelligence to support investment.
In 2022, we collaborated with both Nigeria and Malawi to develop their integrated energy plans and launched online platforms for both so country stakeholders can easily access data for their decision-making.
Research, analysis and tools
A wide body of research and analysis underpins both our country engagement and global advocacy. In 2022, we developed new lines of research in response to country needs, such as a Powering Healthcare Nigeria Market Assessment and Roadmap, and practical tools to support policy-making, such as our new online Knowledge Hub.
We continued to provide thought leadership in the area of sustainable cooling thanks support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Clean Cooling Collaborative. We again published our Chilling Prospects research, this time with a wider set of case studies, sectoral cooling data, and analysis of the enabling environment for cooling. And our cooling needs assessment framework has been adopted by the Cool Coalition for its global methodology for National Cooling Action Plans, which several countries have already implemented.
The world needs to scale and speed up energy access and transition efforts. Finance really is the lynchpin of progress, which is why we established a results-based finance facility two years ago to catalyse energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ensuring the fast delivery of electrification projects for critical services like healthcare is also a priority for us, especially given the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Universal Energy Facility (UEF)
The UEF took a dramatic leap forward in 2022 on multiple fronts, thanks in large part to transformative new funding from the GEAPP and the IKEA Foundation.
A major highlight was the first set of electricity connections being established by mini-grids in Madagascar with projects financed by the facility. Thus far, the facility has paid out results-based grants for 654 electricity connections under its wave 1 mini-grids programme, with thousands more connections anticipating for 2023 across Benin, Madagascar and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, we launched a second wave of mini-grid finance this year for companies operating in Madagascar and Sierra Leone, and a new UEF-supported country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Nigeria also became a UEF-supported country with the launch of a Standalone Solar for Productive Use programme, which is designed to scale up electricity access to households, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while displacing polluting diesel generators. There has been remarkable interest in this programme from energy developers, who will break ground on their projects in early 2023.
Powering Sierra Leone’s Hospitals
COVID-19 underscored how essential it is for health services to have reliable electricity, which is why our growing portfolio of Powering Healthcare work aims to accelerate electricity connections for health facilities in Africa.
Following a detailed energy needs assessment in Sierra Leone, we are now managing the electrification of six key hospitals in Sierra Leone with support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, directly impacting health service delivery and eliminating fuel consumption by adding more than 0.5MWp of installed solar PV capacity to the health sector.
Having achieved the above in 2022, we must now look to expand on both our longstanding bodies of work and nascent initiatives in the year to come.
We will continue to focus on advocacy and diplomacy to build global ambition and political support for SDG7 and energy transition, notably through engagement in major global fora like the G20 in India and COP28.
At the same time, we will continue to directly support priority countries, particularly by helping them create stronger policy and regulations with Integrated Energy Plans and Energy Transition Plans that will mobilize finance, as well as directing funding to energy projects through the UEF, which we hope to grow into a USD 100 million facility by the end of 2023.
We will also support the growth of the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative to attract energy and climate finance to Africa, and we plan to work with countries to grow their domestic renewable energy manufacturing, helping them reap the economic benefits of localized industries.
Importantly, we will continue to elevate areas of the energy transition that often get overlooked, including ensuring the transition supports gender and intergenerational equity. Along these lines, expanding our efforts to offer training opportunities to women and youth and ensuring their engagement in energy and climate negotiations will be a key priority in 2023.
Once again, thank you to all our partners and funders, whose support is critical to our work. We value your commitment to ending energy poverty and fighting climate change, and we look forward to another busy and impactful year of collaboration with you in 2023.
On 19 October, the Government of Malawi, SEforALL and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet launched the Malawi Integrated Energy Planning Tool, an online, publicly available, interactive data visualization platform to share the results of Malawi’s Integrated Energy Plan (IEP). The tool equips Malawian policy makers and energy practitioners with data and insights to make informed decisions to advance energy access in the country.
Integrated energy planning is crucial to achieving universal energy access as called for by Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) by 2030. A comprehensive IEP that uses geospatial data and modelling helps identify energy resources using a dynamic, data-driven approach to optimize the mix of technologies and investment to achieve universal energy access. This offers significant economic impact while achieving cost and resource savings.
The Malawi Integrated Energy Planning Tool is an exemplar of a world-class IEP. While traditional energy plans focus primarily on electrification, the Malawi IEP includes electrification and clean cooking. For the first time, it also includes refrigeration and storage requirements for vaccine distribution for the entire country.
“I am grateful to the Government of Malawi for their partnership with Sustainable Energy for All and for their commitment towards translating their ambition for achieving SDG7 into real action on the ground," said Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for All. "Having a comprehensive Integrated Energy Plan which makes use of geospatial data and modelling, can provide optimized, dynamic, and data-driven ways of identifying the mix of technologies and spending required to achieve universal energy access.”
Key insights highlighted by the Malawi’s Integrated Energy Planning Tool include:
The Malawi IEP was revealed at an event in Lilongwe, Malawi where the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) launched the ‘Scaling Renewables in Malawi to Underpin Development’ energy programme to assist Malawi in achieving universal access by 2030.
Joseph Nganga, Vice President for GEAPP stated, “Integrated energy planning is crucial to achieving universal energy access. We are thrilled to support the launch of Malawi’s energy programme and are committed to working together to scale clean energy for the people of Malawi.”
The Malawi Integrated Energy Planning Tool is available here.
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) delivery partner and multinational utility EDP - Energias de Portugal is exemplifying the role the private sector can have in supporting Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – affordable and clean energy for all by 2030.
EDP’s first edition of the Access to Energy Fund was launched last fall, with 450,000 Euros earmarked for promoting access to energy in remote areas without access to the electricity grid.
Now, EDP has announced that this money will be allocated to six sustainable and clean energy projects across East Africa, notably in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.
According to the 2018 Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report report, 600 million people across Africa do not have any electricity, with millions more having only intermittent access to power. The consequences of these access gaps are far-reaching, limiting opportunities for quality education and health care.
"Access to energy has the potential to play a revolutionary role in emerging countries, being an essential tool for a society to foster opportunities and equality", António Mexia, president of EDP, explained in announcing the Access to Energy Fund’s recipients.
Building partnerships across the spectrum of stakeholders is at the heart of all that SEforALL does to 'change the game' on sustainable energy and accelerate the pace of progress towards SDG7. This includes supporting private sector partners, like EDP, in developing innovative solutions that close energy access gaps.
EDP’s Access to Energy Fund places the company’s financial support behind a series of initiatives that will impact upwards of 55,000 people, of whom ten thousand will be impacted directly. Co-operative Bank Foundation, SAVIC Africa, UN-Habitat, Girl MOVE, Energía Sin Fronteras Foundation and Sustainable Investments and Development Initiatives were selected from a list of 108 entities who applied for the first edition of the fund.
In Kenya, Co-operative Bank Foundation will install solar greenhouses to power irrigation systems in 12 schools to ensure that there will be adequate supply of food throughout the year while providing energy access for 6,000 people. Meanwhile, SAVIC Africa's OKAPI Green Energy project will build a 12 kWp photovoltaic mini-grid at Kakuma Refugee Camp with smart metering technology to provide electricity to 150 homes and 50 business clients.
In Mozambique, the Girl MOVE Academy's "Energy for a Better Future" program will create a 30 kWp solar energy plant for an ECOCampus and IT center for training a new generation of female leaders. UN-Habitat will build solar energy systems to supply 12 classrooms at two schools affected by natural disasters. In addition to promoting access to education for 1,300 people, the initiative also covers the installation of emergency alert systems, internet access and charging stations, which could generate revenue for schools.
Energía Sin Fronteras Foundation will offer 25.9kWp photovoltaic panels to provide electricity at St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Malawi so that it will be able to provide 24-hour medical care and clean water to patients.
The Sustainable Investments and Development Initiatives (SIDI) will also allow 1,500 fishermen and commercial and public facilities to access energy through a 10 kWp photovoltaic mini-grid that will enable the generation, storage and distribution of power to a remote island in Tanzania.
These recipients were selected according to criteria such as social impact, partnerships, sustainability, potential for expansion and number of beneficiaries, work in the areas of education, health, water and agriculture, business and community. Each one received financial support ranging from 25,000 to 100,000 Euros based on their commitment to implement their projects by the beginning of next year.
Read more about the selected initiatives.
*EDP President António Mexia is the Chair of the Administrative Board of Sustainable Energy for All
Energies de Portugal (EDP), a Sustainable Energy for All Delivery Partner, has announced the launch of an energy access fund that will allocate about €500,000 annually to promote renewable energy projects in developing countries.
The application process for the inaugural program is open from October 22 to November 25, 2018.
The fund invites organizations from around the world, both profit and non-profit, to help develop projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. The selection of these four countries reflects the Group’s strategy this year to prioritize investments in East Africa due to the region’s greater political stability and dynamic economic development.
The initiative is part of EDP’s announcement in May that it would provide €12 million under its long-standing access to energy (A2E) program over the next three years to promote universal access to sustainable energy in developing countries, with 200,000 people expected to benefit.
“Access to energy must be a concern and priority for all of us. As part of our energy access strategy, which aims to benefit more than 200,000 people over the next three years, we have launched an investment fund for renewable solution projects with a relevant impact in developing countries,” said EDP Group CEO António Mexia, who is also Chair of the Administrative Board of Sustainable Energy for All.
The A2E CSR Fund Program will focus on five areas in which energy plays a crucial role: education, health, water and agriculture, income generation and community projects. The projects will be selected according to criteria such as social impact, partnerships, sustainability, scalability, and the number of beneficiaries.
Funding for each project will range between €25,000 and €100,000, with the fund covering up to 75% of total project costs for non-profit entities and up to 50% of total project costs for for-profit entities.
The project selection process will be concluded on December 21, 2018. The allocation of the funds will be formalized in January and all the projects must be implemented during 2019.
EDP is committed to contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to help transform the way energy is produced, distributed and consumed. Access to energy is a necessary condition to break the poverty cycle and allow the social and economic development of remote rural areas.
Lisbon-based EDP is the world’s third largest electricity production company, providing electricity to 10 million customers in 14 countries on four continents, with almost 70% of its energy produced from renewable resources.
More information, including regulations and application forms, are available here.
Photo credit: EDP
