Europe strongly advancing renewable energies in Africa

The European Commission continues its leading role in the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative in line with its wider efforts in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

On 4 March 2017 in Conakry, Guinea, Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, announced the preparation of 19 new renewable energy projects, with a total potential investment of €4.8 billion.

This will contribute to the European Commission's aim for 2020: to give 30 million more people access to sustainable energy, to save 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, and to help generate 5 Gigawatts of new renewable energy in Africa. This represents half of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative's overall target, as one of AREI's key objectives is to generate 10 Gigawatt of new renewable energy in Africa by 2020, and to unlock Africa's potential to generate as much as 300 Gigawatt from renewable energy by 2030. The EU's development funding towards sustainable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2014-2020 amounts to approximately €2.7 billion.

The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) is an Africa-owned and Africa-led initiative of the African Union. It aims at harnessing Africa's abundant renewable energy resources to help African countries to support their development strategies and leapfrog towards low-carbon economic development. In so doing the Initiative will increase access to sustainable and affordable energy while addressing climate change.