Introduction

Worldwide, over 1.3 billion people are without access to sustainable electricity and 2.6 billion people use inefficient means such as burning wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste to cook their meals and heat their homes, exposing themselves and their families to smoke and fumes that are damaging their health and kill nearly 2 million people a year. In Sub-Saharan Africa around 70% of the population does not have access to energy, in some countries this figure exceeds 95%, without access to modern and sustainable energy services.

Project Scope

SE4All is a global initiative launched by the UN and supported by the European Union, which aims to contribute to an increased universal access to modern energy services, as well as double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. MWH leads a consortium that delivers high level technical assistance at country and regional level, through expert missions aiming to support 26 committed countries in Central and Western Africa in reaching the SE4All objectives and to significantly increase investment in the energy sector.

Project Challenge

The areas of support include stocktaking and establishing national energy sector policies (including access, supplies, efficiency and reforms), capacity building in policy and regulatory frameworks and technical support in programming and preparation of projects. Next to these, the project focuses on assisting the countries with the mobilization of funds and the facilitation of partnerships (with particular emphasis on the private sector).

Project Solution/Results

Within the project, the consortium executing initial assessments of access to electricity and national initiatives in sustainable energy and energy efficiency in each of the countries and, based on the findings, assisting the local governments with the establishment of national energy sector policies, provide them with necessary capacity building and assist them with setting up partnerships with the public and private sector. The consortium also provides technical support in programming and project preparations in the field of rural electrification, renewable energies, energy efficiency and energy savings.