May 17-19 2022; Kigali Rwanda – The Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and the Government of Rwanda welcomed more than 1,300 people from around the world to the global SEforALL Forum in Kigali. The much-anticipated, landmark event for sustainable energy had to be postponed twice due to Covid-19, but the wait proved to be worth it. The three days were filled with inspiring talks, bold commitments, and transformative actions that have the potential to deliver accelerated progress towards clean, affordable energy for all by 2030 and net zero by mid-century.
In addition to being held in-person, the entire Forum was streamed online for those unable to attend in Kigali, and around 2,800 tuned in to watch.
GGGI Deputy Director General, Ms Helena Mcleod, participated in several discussions, such as the panel discussion on “Financing Renewable Energy for the Energy Transition” organized by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Other panelists include Mr Gauri Singh, Deputy Director-General, IRENA; Joyce Lee, Head of Policy and Projects, Global Wind Energy Council; and Habeeb Alebiosu, CEO of Viathan. The Objectives of the discussion was to focus on how countries can accelerate their energy transition to clean and affordable renewable energy, in support of economic growth and climate targets. This event brought together key stakeholders from government, finance and the private sector to discuss the enabling policy frameworks which can mobilize a new scale of investment from concessional funds, climate finance and ultimately the commercial sector in renewable energy. The main objectives were:
● Address the urgent need to mobilize public and private investment in renewable energy in the Global South to accelerate countries’ shift to sustainable growth underpinned by clean and affordable renewable energy.
● Highlight the scale of investment required to enable grid-based wind and solar energy in line with net zero scenarios, and the role of public finance in attracting larger volumes of private capital to drive renewable energy deployment.
● Focus on the creation of enabling policy frameworks which can attract concessional and ultimately commercial capital to a pipeline of bankable renewable energy projects, and share best practices and lessons learned to inform governments on creating such frameworks and increasing targeted investments for the transition.
● Showcase the solid achievement of Climate Investment Platform as an international collaboration to connect projects with available climate capital by working closely with project proponents to bolster proposals reach bankability while facilitating match-making between projects and suitable investors under the facility
Another session that DDG Helena Mcleod joined was the Day 3 reflections where she was given the opportunity to speak alongside Mr Mark Carrato, Coordinator of Power Africa on:
● What has given you hope at this Forum for advancing the SDG7 agenda (inclusive energy/the clean energy transition)?
● What has stood out for you for how the community at this conference can accelerate change for sustainable energy in Sharm El Sheik in November?
● What are you taking away from the Forum specifically for your organization’s renewable energy initiatives?
The 2022 SEforALL Forum is the landmark global gathering bringing people together to take stock of progress, showcase success and identify solutions to achieve faster, broader gains towards sustainable energy for all. It serves as a platform to broker new partnerships, spur investment, address challenges and drive action towards realizing SDG7 and a global clean energy transition. On 20th May the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and University of Rwanda African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD) and its Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub (GIIH) in collaboration with Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) and Chalmers University of Technology hosted a side event as a parallel session during the forum to discuss the opportunities around energy efficiency in Rwanda across various sub-sectors, experience sharing, and lessons learnt on promoting energy efficiency from the global south, barriers, and solutions to accelerate energy efficiency in Rwanda.
The event served as a platform to officially mark the launch of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) project ‘Support to setup Super ESCO (Energy Services Company) facility in Rwanda as a vehicle to promote energy efficiency’ funded under the Korea Green New Deal Trust Fund (KGNDF) project preparatory funds supported by the Korea Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF). The project has been jointly developed by GGGI in collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The event was an opportunity to also showcase 15 entrepreneurs and their innovative business ideas that are being incubated under the Grid Innovation and Incubation Hub (GIIH) hosted by the Africa Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD) in the College of Science and Technology (CST) at the University of Rwanda and other private innovators producing energy fuel (renewable energy) from municipal waste. These innovations revolve around advancing Rwanda’s sustainable energy transition efforts.
The overall objective of the event is to deliberate on the barriers and available solutions for promoting energy efficiency in Rwanda, knowledge and experience sharing on energy efficiency from the global south and raise awareness on the newly launched project preparatory support to setup Super ESCO facility in Rwanda to accelerate energy efficiency to advance Rwanda’s climate ambitions. The event will also showcase the innovations of young entrepreneurs incubated at UR GIIH and energy efficiency entrepreneurs through waste to energy (Biogas and briquettes production from municipal solid waste).
The event was officiated by dignitaries giving their opening remarks including Eng. Patricie UWASE, Hon. Minister of State, Ministry of Infrastructure, Republic of Rwanda , Ms Helena McLeod, Deputy Director General & Head of Green Growth Planning & Implementation Division, GGGI, H.E. CHAE Jin-weon, Ambassador of Republic of Korea to the Republic of Rwanda, Ms Aissa Toure Sarr, Country Manager, AfDB Rwanda Country Office.
As part of the soft launch several presentations made by sector experts such as the presentation on “Policy Perspectives on Energy Effiicieny by MININFRA , Innovations on Clean energy and energy efficiency in Rwanda by Dr. Alice Ikuzwe, Deputy Principal in charge of Academics and Training, IPRC Kigali , Energy efficiency initiatives in Tea Factories – A case of Nyabihu Tea Factory by Mr. Octave VUGUZIGA, Nyabihu Tea Factory and the Support to setup Rwanda Super ESCO facility by Mr. Dheeraj Arrabothu, Sr. Officer – Green Buildings, GGGI Rwanda.
The side event also included a Panel Discussion discussing the “Barriers and solutions for accelerating energy efficiency in Rwanda ” with moderator Ms Penny-Jane Cooke, Head of Strategic Partnerships, ARC Power and panelists included Dr. Malle Fofana, Director and Head of Programs, Africa, GGGI , Mr Jalel CHABCHOUB, Chief Investment Officer / Energy Efficiency Expert Renewable energy & Energy efficiency Department, AfDB (Virtual participation) , Mr Claver GAKWAVU, Director of Planning, REG EUCL , Mr Sanday KABAREBE, CEO, Energy Private Developers, and Ms Helene Ahlborg, Team Leader, Chalmers University of Technology.
To catch up on all the updates from the GGGI Rwanda team during the SE4ALL Forum , follow out twitter platform , visit the GGGI Rwanda website
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Event photos
Event photos from the Forum are available online for download through the Flickr page of the Ministry of Environment – Rwanda.
Access event photos here.
Session video recordings
All public sessions from the Forum can be re-watched through the Forum virtual platform under the Video on Demand tab. Recordings are currently provided for specific rooms and specific days. Recordings of individual sessions will be published on the virtual platform in the coming weeks.
Access recordings here.