The past year has been tumultuous. We have experienced highs and lows. We have also been privileged to have our stakeholders by our side, steering us in the direction which ensure that we don’t lose our purpose.

I am therefore excited to share with you our first Edition of our newsletter where we highlight key milestones and joint initiatives which we have and continue to implement in the year 2021 and beyond. The work highlighted in this volume are ground work for a better and self-sufficient Africa on energy, accessibility, capacity building and resource sharing on the continent.

Over and again, it has been echoed that over 600 million people on our continent lack accessibility to electricity. This statement may be cliché, however, we cannot escape our realities and experiences, as it says otherwise.

To build the ‘Africa We Want’ and for Africa to prosper, our goal as a collective is to ensure Africa’s development as echoed in the AU Agenda 2063, Aspiration 6- is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children. Our purpose as a continental institution is to warrant that we are responsible in our actions, to lay the foundation and create a thriving environment where all Africa’s energy resources are utilised first on the continent before export.

Our energy planning and implementation should prepare us as a continent to shift and adapt, whilst taking cognisant of what transition is fit and mean for Africa. Moreover, Africa’s development agenda shall and must be driven by our own, the Africans. We must ensue to protect and sustainably exploit, and utilise Africa’s abundant energy resource for the benefit of our people who are languishing in poverty. Africa energy resources has a high potential to improve the living standard and provide social justice to the African people.

But, without the right policies and regulations, an enabling environment for investment and inadequate integration programmes for the continent, it is difficult for us to achieve the goals set for developing the energy sector, as such action hampers the progress made over the years and to move ahead.

Hence, Africa must rise. Then again for it to rise, Africa must be astute. ‘A strong Africa is the one that is united, resilient and influential as a global player and partner’. We must therefore accelerate the transition and development of energy infrastructures, policies and regulations of the continents energy system, to position Africa’s approach at tackling energy poverty.

At AFREC, we are always looking through the lenses of our actions and the seed we plough, because, we believe energy is key for socio-economic independence across all sectors of the economy. Though our mandate for continent is quite mammoth, we have confidence, we must deliver.

To our member states, as always, remember to keep us on our toes!
To our current International Cooperation and Development Partners, we are grateful for your continuous support. To all our stakeholders, thank you for your tenacity to remind us of our purpose and you shall continue to do so. To all our prospective partners whose aspiration is to put Africa’s first in the development of the energy sector, we welcome you aboard.

From us at AFREC, we wish you a ‘‘joyous Merry and A prosperous 2022’’.

RASHID Ali Abdallah
Executive Director, African Energy Commission