Developing energy independence for central and western Africa

Technical Assistance Facility for the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative

Over 1.3 billion people worldwide are without access to electricity, and 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. They use inefficient means to burn wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste to cook their meals and heat their homes—exposing themselves and their families to smoke and fumes that damage their health and kill nearly two million people a year.

To address these challenges, the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4All) was launched by the donors’ community in 2011. The initiative had three objectives (for completion by 2030): ensure universal access to modern energy services, double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

Using this framework, our responsibility is to further develop the enabling environment in sustainable energy by delivering high-quality assistance at the national and regional levels. From there, we’ll assist governments to establish national energy sector policies and provide them with capacity building measures.

With the SE4All initiative, the people of central and western Africa are moving closer towards achieving independent energy goals.