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Praia, 22 November 2018 – The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), has signed an essential Memorandum of Understanding with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to develop sustainable energy development in the ECOWAS region.
At the International Conference of Renewable Energy held in Cabo Verde, ECREEE has once more taken a step further in order to promote sustainable energy development in West Africa, by establishing a strategic partnership ISA. The MoU signed aims at mobilizing funding, whether feasible for investments in projects developed by both institutions in the ECOWAS Member States. This partnership will also focus on strengthening national and regional policy, regulatory, legal and institutional frameworks in support of the expansion of markets by ensuring adequate coverage of sustainable solar energy.
In his remarks, at the signing ceremony, Mr. Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director of ECREEE stressed on the fact that despite the vast renewable energy resources, the ECOWAS market remains largely underdeveloped, therefore, expanding access to modern, reliable and affordable energy services is a top priority to attain sustainable development. The director also emphasized on the ECOWAS renewable energy target of 35% by 2020 and 48% by 2030, making the point that one of the ways to attain such targets is by forging instrumental partnerships.
Mr. Rajeev Gyani, Assistant Director of ISA highlighted the importance of this new partnership by underlining that it will support to unlock the vast RE potential of West Africa, particularly the solar potential, by improving the enabling environment and support frameworks for solar energy markets, developing projects that attract adequate financing, building human capacity of stakeholders within the region, among other things.
Alexandre Monteiro, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Energy of Cabo Verde, present at the signing ceremony, congratulated both institutions on this new partnership and pointed out that the Government is very supportive to initiatives aiming at increasing the use of renewable energy sources and its development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
The International Solar Alliance is an organization dedicated to provide a platform for cooperation among solar resource-rich countries where the global community, including bilateral and multilateral organizations, corporates, industry, and other stakeholders, can make a positive contribution to assist and help achieve the common goals of increasing the use of solar energy.