The 5^th Board of Directors Meeting of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) took place on January 27^th in Addis Ababa, in the margins of the 30^th African Union Summit. The AREI is a “transformative Africa-owned and Africa-led effort to accelerate, scale-up and harness the continent’s huge potential in renewable energy sources” which was officially launched at the Paris climate conference (COP 21) in 2015.

The EU and France are standing observers representing international partners. Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), took part in this 5^th meeting of the Board of Directors. The EU committed its support and pledged EUR 1.5 billion to the Initiative for the period 2015-2020.

The AREI is steered by the President of the Republic of Guinea Alpha Conde and the Board is constituted by the Heads of State representing the five member states nominated by their respective sub-regions (currently: Egypt for North Africa, Namibia for Southern Africa, Chad for Central Africa, Kenya for Eastern Africa and Guinea for Western Africa). It also includes representatives of African institutions such as the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).

The Initiative is expected to help generate an additional 10 GW of renewable energy in Africa by 2020 and as much as 300 GW by 2030.