Guest Spot

‘Least developed, energy constrained’

The new global energy tracking report shows the majority of least developed countries, including Malawi, are lagging behind when it comes to access to energy. During the 2018 Sustainable for All Forum in Lisbon, Portugal, this month, our Staff writer JAMES CHAVULA engaged UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) director Heidi Schroderus-Fox on what it will take to close the power gap.

Schroderus-Fox: Ensuring everyone has access to sustainable energy is important to SDGs

 ‘Leaving no one behind’ has become a global slogan since world leaders adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs] to eradicate poverty by 2030. How important is energy access in achieving these goals?

SDG seven is about ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Ensuring everyone has access to sustainable energy is very important to SDGs and the achievement of these goals. It will affect the implementation and achievement of many of the other goals as well: eradication of poverty, provision of quality education, healthcare, nutrition and many others. Energy access will affect all of these. When you are looking at how to implement them, you look at the numbers. Right now, we have the average access to electricity in the world is about 87 percent. But in the least developed countries it is only 45 percent. So, unless we really focus in these countries that are lagging the farthest behind, we cannot achieve the SDG7 on sustainable energy. Therefore, we really need to focus on those countries that are being left behind.

What are you doing to close the gap?

What we are doing is that we are hoping that bringing in different partners to support the countries will help change the picture. Bringing in the private sector, bringing in funding agencies, bringing in journalists like you who can go and share the messages with the communities in need. By working together, we can push for this to happen by 2030. It will take a lot of effort from everybody and nobody can do it alone. Our role, the role of my office, is that we bring these partnerships together to ensure no one is left behind.

One of the major problems in Africa is that funds that are  going towards closing the energy gap is sometimes not put to good use. How do you make sure that the investment that you and your partners are making is properly run and brings the desired change for people with the unmet need for energy?

Making sure that energy projects are well run is very important. What we do is that we make sure that we have the buy-in of the local implementers. We want to make sure that the project is something that the government supports and that those who will be implementing the project are our partners who will report back to us with strict follow-ups. So, we are working together with all the government, local actors and the communities to ensure we are working as a team and for the right targets.

At the Sustainable Energy for All Forum in Lisbon, we witnessed the launch of the Global Energy Report which shows that much as there is progress in increasing access to energy globally, most developing countries are not doing well—with some of them experiencing power blackouts for more than 48 hours a month. What do you make of this scenario which is not unusual in Malawi?

This is a very difficult story. It brings to light the gap that we are striving to bridge. However, I must say that reading the tracking report, there are some really encouraging positive stories from Africa as well.  Countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda are really moving ahead in terms of these targets. But we are putting the finger on the sub-Saharan Africa. In southern parts and also west Africa, many countries are still lagging behind. The focus need to go to those countries.

What lessons can African countries learn from those that are registering positive trends in achieving sustainable energy for all goals?

There are many lessons to be learnt. One important thing, and this must be the starting point, is the local buy-in.  You have to be part of it. Without this, others cannot come in and do it. The local government, local officials and local communities have to be willing and push for this. When you ensure that the local buy-in is there, you could bring in different local partners, such as the private sector to invest in energy companies. Then you bring in funding from the World Bank, Africa Development Bank [AfDB] and other global agencies, perhaps even private funding. But the funding can sometimes be challenging if the investment climate is not good. This is why you need to bring in those who are used working in these circumstances.

There seems to be promising strides to increase access to electricity, but not much when it comes to increasing access to clean energy? What will it take to ensure everyone has access to clean energy?

Once you have the buy-in, you look at what works in your country. The situation in every country is different, what you do in Senegal might not work in Malawi. They are two types that are working for many countries. Some countries are going for grid solution, expanding the grid structure. Other countries, including Bangladesh in Asia, have tremendously increased access to energy through off-grid solutions, small systems that can be implemented locally with less cost, but they are quite effective. Every country needs to conduct assessments on what works best for them. After that, you can bring in the implementers.

Does your office fund energy projects?

My office does not do financing as such. We work together with various partners to do that. We are working at a global level to advocate for resources for sustainable energy. It is always effective to work with governments through regional agencies to bring the change desired by people without access to sustainable energy.

Where does your office derive the mandate to advocate for energy for all?

One of the best ways of explaining that is the Istanbul Plan of Action which sets priorities for least developed countries (LDCs).  The priorities include access to energy, trade and trade facilitations, ensuring that we are bringing the resources. IT is very important to bring in bringing connectivity. Also, infrastructural development is very important.

 

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