October 15, Maputo, Mozambique – Mozambique is at the crossroads of development, and ensuring universal electrification of its rural population is key to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals of Mozambique. The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in partnership with Mozambique’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MIREME) and  the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development (MITADER) organized a multi-stakeholder workshop on October 15, 2018 in Maputo, Mozambique. The theme of the workshop was on the role of off-grid renewable power for achieving universal electricity access for rural development and for implementation of Mozambique’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.

More than 40 participants, including directors and technical specialists from major ministries, development financiers, representatives of bilateral donor agencies, commercial banks, off-grid service providers, and project development donor agencies attended the workshop. In a scene setting presentation, GGGI highlighted the business case, major barriers, and best practices for scaling up off-grid renewable power in Mozambique. Mozambique’s rural energy fund (FUNAE) and Enabel in Mozambique, Belgian Development Agency shared challenges and learning around planning and implementation of government-led and donor organization, supporting off grid power projects in the country. The African Development Bank Group provided an overview of its Africa-wide support to advance off-grid renewable power uptake for green growth. A first panel with representatives from donor organizations and private sector developers such as DFID, USAID, ELEQTRA and SOLARWORKS provided the platform to discuss ways for addressing key barriers to facilitate greater private sector participation in the sector. A second panel consisting of MIREME, MITADER, FUNAE, and national utlity EdM discussed modalities for an inter-agency coordination mechanism for promoting and realizing greater uptake of off-grid renewable energy power solutions.

MIREME, MITADER and participants appreciated GGGI’s efforts to organize the well-attended event and the active discussions, and expected GGGI to take a pivotal role in promoting off-grid renewable power for rural development in Mozambique. GGGI’s activities in the country include supporting government with market study and project pipeline development for renewable energy productive use and assessment of and recommendations to address key barriers for greater private sector participation to scale up uptake of off-grid renewable power in rural Mozambique.