The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) DTU Partnership hosted a seminar, titled ‘Opportunity Africa: Sustainable Energy Investments in Africa - Engaging the Private Sector,' which brought together a range of actors with an interest in sustainable energy activities in Africa.
The seminar specifically targeted private and corporate investors, such as pension funds, with an interest in learning more about the investment opportunities, potential risks and barriers, how to overcome them, and potential project partners in the field of sustainable energy in Africa.
1 August 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) DTU Partnership hosted a seminar, titled ‘Opportunity Africa: Sustainable Energy Investments in Africa – Engaging the Private Sector,’ which brought together a range of actors with an interest in sustainable energy activities in Africa. The seminar specifically targeted private and corporate investors, such as pension funds, with an interest in learning more about the investment opportunities, potential risks and barriers, how to overcome them, and potential project partners in the field of sustainable energy in Africa.
Over 90 participants, including development agencies, financing institutions, African Government representatives, energy utilities, project developers and the Danish private sector, attended the seminar, during which the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) was launched. The AREF is a renewable energy fund focused on Sub-Saharan Africa that will provide capital to support small- to medium-scale independent power producers. The European launch of the Fund was officiated by the Danish Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation, Mogens Jensen, and the US Ambassador to Denmark, Rufus Gifford.
The seminar aimed to: increase the appreciation of facilities available to support investment; raise awareness and mutual understanding of the present situation, opportunities, barriers and how to overcome them, through real world examples; establish links and constructive dialogue between project developers and potential investors; and support the creation of an enabling environment, recognizing and facilitating the role of private finance.
The seminar was held from 24-25 June 2014, at UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was organized by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the African Development Bank (AfDB). UNEP DTU Partnership (formerly UNEP Risø Centre), an international research and advisory institution on climate, energy and sustainable development, is a UNEP collaborating center operating under a tripartite agreement between the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNEP and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). [UNEP DTU Press Release] [Presentations Made during the Seminar]