African countries face many challenges in meeting energy demands, despite abundant renewable and non-renewable energy resources.  Africa has the fastest-growing energy demand and the lowest rates of access to energy  Africa’s population growth rate is more than double the world average at around 2.5% annually, but access to electricity stands at only 57%, and access to clean cooking at a mere 17%, with negative impacts on air quality and public health. There is a significant paucity of country-specific research and capacity for energy transition planning in many African countries, and discussions about the opportunities and trade-offs of different pathways should be informed by evidence.

African Energy Dialogues provides an essential platform to enable inclusive, evidence-based discussion of the complex issues surrounding African countries’ energy transitions. Through an ongoing program of face-to-face and virtual events, working groups and taskforces, this platform will cultivate discourse to inform sound policymaking and energy planning across the continent. It will support African countries by producing policy proposals, tools and recommendations based on rigorous data analysis and inclusive discussion between government, civil society, academia and the private sector. This support will provide credible evidence on the opportunities and trade-offs available to African decision-makers in designing country-specific energy transition pathways.

WRI Africa is collaborating with key pan-African institutions to convene African Energy Dialogues, bringing together national, regional and international stakeholders to hold critical discussions to:

  1. Deliberate on possible pathways for African countries’ transitions and their potential impacts on economies and communities.
  2. Openly engage the varied perspectives of stakeholders working across the continent on transition pathways.
  3. Build a coalition of actors to collaborate and jointly address the energy transition for the benefit of African people, nature and climate.
  4. Share learnings and best practices on energy transition efforts at the country level and collaboratively accelerate the design of appropriate energy transition plans across the continent.
  5. Strengthen Africa’s ability to influence the global debate on its energy transition pathways and promote positions for the continent that maximize the benefits to the African people.

 

African Energy Dialogues is convened by World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa in partnership with African Energy Commission (AFREC), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

 

Cover image by Jeffery M Walcott/IWMI