The ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the Global Forum for Sustainable Energy (GSFE), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) are jointly organizing a three-day High Level Forum on “Paving the Way for Sustainable Energy for All in West Africa through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency” from the 08th to the 10th of October 2012, in Accra, Ghana. The event is hosted by the Government of Ghana. It will feature the participation of the ECOWAS Energy Ministers as well as other international high level representatives. The Forum is an official ECOWAS contribution to the UN Sustainable Energy For All Initiative and will follow-up on the key decisions of the Rio+20 Summit. This event will be followed by the “First International Off-Grid Renewable Energy Conference”.

The Forum takes place at the background of the encouraging developments in the renewable energy and energy efficiency (RE&EE) sector in the ECOWAS region. As a policy response to the rising energy security concerns, continued lack of access to energy services and the need for climate change mitigation ECOWAS has taken a pioneering role in the promotion of sustainable energy technologies:

• In 2003 the ECOWAS Energy Protocol envisaged the improvement of energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources.
• In 2006 the ECOWAS/UEMOA White Paper on access to energy services for populations in rural and peri-urban areas foresees that at least 20% of new investments in electricity generation should originate from locally available renewable resources.
• In 2010 the ECOWAS Energy Ministers established the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), the first regional renewable energy promotion agency in Sub Sahara Africa.
• In 2011 ECOWAS took initial steps to develop a regional policy framework for renewable energy and energy efficiency. In the course of this process several ECOWAS countries launched the development and implementation of national policies and laws.

ECOWAS leaders regard sustainable energy technologies and services as important tools to achieve three fundamental policy objectives:

• Universal access to modern energy services particularly in rural and peri-urban areas
• Security and reliability of energy supplies
• Mitigation of negative externalities of the energy system on the environment (GHG emissions, local pollution)  

, the West African markets for RE&EE remain largely underdeveloped. In 2010 West Africa continued to attract only a small fraction of the 200 billion USD globally invested in new renewable energy generation capacity. West African countries do not take full advantage of their RE&EE potentials due to various technical, financial, economic, legal, institutional, policy and capacity related barriers. The Forum will take stock of the achievements and identify ways to mitigate these barriers and strengthen the encouraging trends.

The High Level Forum will feature the following highlights:

In 2011 ECREEE launched the development of the ECOWAS Regional Renewable Energy Policy and the ECOWAS Regional Policy on Energy Efficiency with support of the EU-PDF and the ACP-EU Energy Facility. In the framework of the Forum, the "Renewable Energy" and "Energy Efficiency" policy papers will be presented and submitted to the fifteen ECOWAS Energy Ministers for consideration, in view of ratification as regional policy. The policies will suggest minimum targets for RE&EE and a broad range of measures and incentives which need to be implemented on regional and national levels. The commitment of the ECOWAS countries to the ambitious targets outlined in the policy papers will require coordinated action on national, regional and international levels. Strong support from the donor community is essential to complement the efforts of ECOWAS countries.

The Steering Committee of the energy component of the Strategic Programme for West Africa (SPWA) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) will be held with the attendance of the ECOWAS Energy Ministers. The USD 245 million energy programme is coordinated by UNIDO in cooperation with ECREEE. The Steering Committee will launch the ECOWAS Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. The web-based Observatory is managed by ECREEE and will provide reliable and updated data for investors and project developers on RE&EE potentials, stakeholders, policies and implemented projects in the ECOWAS region. The Forum will also take stock on the GEF West Africa Energy Programme and facilitate dialogue on RE&EE policies, institutional frameworks as well as financial mechanisms. Special attention will be given to regional approaches, cooperation initiatives, involvement of investors and exchange of experience and best practices.

ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: In order to accelerate the uptake of RE&EE technologies, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers created ECREEE, a unique regional renewable energy and energy efficiency promotion agency in Sub Sahara Africa. ECREEE started its operation in 2010 with initial support of the Austrian and Spanish Governments and technical assistance of the United National Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The Secretariat of ECREEE is based in Praia, Cape Verde, and maintains a network of National Focal Institutions (NFIs) among all ECOWAS countries. ECREEE aims at the establishment of regional renewable energy and energy efficiency markets by supporting various activities to mitigate existing barriers for the dissemination of these technologies. The ECREEE activities include policy development, capacity building, awareness raising, knowledge management as well as business and investment promotion. Further information is available at www.ecreee.org

Global Forum on Sustainable Energy: The GFSE was launched by Austria’s Foreign Minister in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment in 1999. It stems from outreach efforts of the World Energy Assessment, which was organized by the UN Development Programme, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Energy Council. The GFSE provides a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogues aimed at facilitating decision making on energy policy issues in relevant forum. It also seeks to foster public-private partnerships. The forum is perceived as follow-up to the GFSE-6 “Africa is energizing itself”, held in Vienna, Austria, in 2006. Further information is available at: www.gfse.at

United Nations Industrial Development Organization: UNIDO is the United Nations’ specialized agency with the mandate to promote industrial development in the world’s developing and least developed nations. UNIDO is one of the lead United Nations agencies in the field of renewable energy for productive uses and industrial energy efficiency. UNIDO’s services include the implementation of renewable energy demonstration projects, policy support to create a favourable environment for renewable energy technologies, and capacity-building in the form of local training, workshops and targeted publications. UNIDO has provided technical assistance for the establishment and operation of the Regional Centre for Small Hydropower, based in Abuja, Nigeria, and the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). UNIDO is coordinating the USD 245 million energy component of the GEF Strategic Programme for West Africa. Further information is available at www.unido.org

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