President Paul Kagame has stressed the need to integrate industrial policies with sustainable energy policy if Africa is to power its future industries without necessarily slowing down the continent’s development.

Kagame shared his views on Tuesday, May 17, during a global sustainable energy forum that has attracted over 2000 participants in Kigali to review progress of the seventh sustainable development goal (SDG7) on affordable and clean energy for all.

The Head of State said that over the past decade, significant progress has been achieved towards the goal, despite a toll on the gains resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today in Africa, he pointed out, more than half a billion people still don't have access to electricity.

"This energy crisis coincides with the threat of climate change. To which our continent is especially vulnerable,” he said."Switching to renewable energy is crucial. That is why creating an enabling environment to attract investment in sustainable energy is so important.”

Kagame also tipped the participants on ways through which Africa can create an enabling environment.

First, he said, expanding the use of off-grid technologies, and standalone systems can help bring power to rural communities in Africa more quickly.

The data centres that need to be built in Africa to support the growth of information, technology services are one example, Kagame highlighted.

Equally important, he added, in the coming years, vaccine manufacturing is set to grow in Africa.  

"We can work to make the sector green, right from the outset.”

Meanwhile, Kagame called for strong public utilities, citing that they are central to access and affordability. 

However, he said, they need to be professionally managed and financially viable.

A just and equitable model

By integrating sustainable energy in pandemic recovery plans, world leaders can accelerate the transition to clean power.

"But the transition must be just and equitable. This means it should align with Africa’s development priorities and aspirations to ensure no one is left behind,” the President said.

At the same time, he said that there needs to be increased financing to developing countries to support hot climate adaptation in line with international agreements.

"Africa can't carry the burden alone, especially given that its emissions did not create a climate emergency,” he said, adding, "The continent will be part of the solution. For instance, we will contribute through the Africa centre of excellence for sustainable cooling and cold chain launched in 2020 by the governments of Rwanda and the United Kingdom together with the United Nations Environment Program.”

This initiative, he highlighted, is a concrete effort to help achieve the goals of the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol on phasing out hydro fluoro carbons. "In addition to delivering financial security to farmers, this centre will respond to the growing need for medical cold chains to store vaccines and medicines.”

Kagame reiterated that during the three-day forum dubbed SEforALL there is a shared responsibility to ensure that ‘our actions match our ambitions.”

SEforALL Global Forum is taking place in Africa for the first time, and is being organised under the theme; "Driving action for a people-centred energy transition”.

For Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, the 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.

"Several bold and ambitious announcements and commitments will be announced over the course of the meeting,” she told participants.

Ogunbiyi shared similar sentiments with António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, who, in a virtual address said that closing the energy access gap and then the energy poverty is crucial to delivering the agenda.

It is also fundamental to tackling the climate crisis, Guterres added.

"We need to shift to sustainable energy systems everywhere. The addiction to fossil fuels must end starting with coal by 2030,” the UN boss asserted.

To accomplish this, he reiterated that developed countries must honour their pledge of providing $100 billion a year for climate action in developing countries.

"Together, let us pursue an agenda for both the people and the planet and give a sustainable, just and equitable energy future for all,” he said.