Kigali, 5th November 2018- The Government of Rwanda in partnership with Energy Private Developers (EPD), and in collaboration with Clean Cooking Alliance, Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Program (RECP), the World Bank, the European Union, , Shell Foundation, bfz and many others has organized the 2nd Edition of the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) Africa Renewable Energy For Sustainable Growth which falls under Rwanda Energy Week, from 5th -9th November 2018 at Kigali Convention Center.

This forum is a first-of-its-kind, private sector-oriented conference to convene more than 300 delegates from across the world including business leaders, investors, donors and government representatives to collaborate on developing an industry at scale to deliver modern, clean cooking solutions around the world, with a special focus on East Africa.

“Solar energy is expected to lead renewable electricity capacity growth over the next five years with over 580GW. With this projected expansion rate, developing countries that have the lowest levels of access to electricity are expected to capitalise on this expansion growth and accelerate the access considering the new technologies in provision of off grid solar solutions”, said Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. Ambassador Claver Gatete during the opening of the forum.

He noted that the Government of Rwanda  targets to achieve universal access (100%) to electricity by 2024 with 52% on-grid connections and 48% off-grid. To this end, connection to solar home systems and mini-grid with appropriate high-quality material standards was prioritized.

Minister Gatete mentioned that the clean cooking sector, dependence on Biomass currently stands at 83%. He noted also that the Government of Rwanda is currently developing strategies to reduce this dependence by half in the year 2024. These strategies, he said, include “use of Institutional biogas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Prisons, Police and Military Camps, Schools especially boarding Schools, Hospitals, Hotels and Restaurants in addition to rolling out LPG in urban and peri urban areas”.

The Netherlands Ambassador to Rwanda, Mrs. Frédérique de Man highlighted that cooking is the most fundamental energy need that people have as everybody cooks and almost every meal has to be cooked.

“The energy needs for cooking are by far and large the most important energy need of households in developing countries. Which means that progress here can potentially have an enormous impact on the overall energy consumption and related carbon emissions of countries”, she observed.

On the other hand, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Alliance for Clean Cooking Dymphna Van der Lans said that cooking energy accounts for a large portion of the limited financial resources available to those living at the base of the pyramid, and this is increasing with urbanization and environmental degradation, noting that women and girls who often spend hours cooking and collecting fuel, are disproportionately affected. 

“It is our belief that no one’s life should be limited by how they cook. And yet, globally, three billion people depend on open fires and polluting stoves to cook their food – harming their health, their livelihoods, and the environment”, she added.

EPD- Rwanda Chairman, Dr. Ivan TWAGIRASHEMA, noted that “from energy week forums, we are expecting more investments in clean cooking sector coming to Rwanda; more private sector involvement in innovative business models to power agribusiness in Rwanda; and mini-gird deployment for quick off-grid rural electrification; and more business cases and joint-venture partnerships”.

Other activities are expected to take place during Rwanda Energy Week events. The opening will coincide with the official launch of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4all) Investment Prospectus (IP) which considers the Government of Rwanda’s commitment towards sizable investment opportunities across clean cooking sub-sector.

The second event is the Unlocking Solar Capital Africa 2018 which is scheduled to take place on 7th-8th November 2018 at Kigali Convention Center. This forum, organized by Solar Plaza and Gogla, will bring together hundreds of representatives from development banks, investment funds, solar developers, IPPs, EPCs & other stakeholders. More than 350 decision makers will gather to engage in extensive discussions to solve Africa’s solar energy funding gap -and get projects realized.

The third event is the Re-energizing Agriculture through Solar Power forum that will take place on 8th November 2018 at Kigali Convention Center. This forum will gather policy makers and private sector in energy and agriculture to discuss the role and experience of solar energy, mainly the opportunities and challenges of solar for agriculture in Rwanda, solar irrigation, solar solutions for agribusinesses (drying, cold storage, processing….) and financing solar solutions for agriculture (credit, leasing, microfinance).

There will be also the EEP Knowledge Exchange Forum on mini-grids organized by EEP Africa in partnership with EPD on 9th November 2018 at Kigali Convention Center. The forum will mainly discuss the productive uses in mini-grids, challenges for mini-grids, regulatory framework for mini-grids and attracting financiers for mini-grid projects.