BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
The New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) Agency, today begins a two-day “Bioenergy Investment
Symposium for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region” in
Sandton, Johannesburg.
The symposium is sponsored by the ACP
Business Climate Facility (BizClim), which provides technical assistance for
improving the business climate in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean, a
statement announcing the symposium has disclosed.
According to NEPAD, the aim of the
symposium is to establish a world-class bioenergy investment incubator for
Southern Africa and is also indicative of the organisation’s intent to create a
platform for member countries to participate in this burgeoning new industry.
The NEPAD Agency, the implementing body of
the African Union, says it is keen to efficiently and effectively utilise
the vast resources of bioenergy in Africa in a sustainable manner to
achieve both energy and food security for the African population, hence the
symposium which is expected to bring together some of the leading developers
and investors from the bioenergy community, to brainstorm and to come up with
concrete steps to drive the development of sustainable bioenergy industry in
the Southern Africa region.
Commenting
on the two-day conference before its start, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief
Executive Officer of NEPAD said; “In
the context of world economic crisis and increasing global demand for renewable
energy sources, the successful development of a thriving biomass and bioenergy
industry in Southern Africa would at once be a catalyst for economic recovery
for the region and serve to establish the region as a major global force in the
supply of biomass and bioenergy.”
For his part, Gavin Maxwell, Executive
Chairman of Ireland’s Coolfin Partnership, who is expected to be the Chairman for
the two-day event stated; “We all recognise the opportunity that Africa has to
be a leader in the supply of biomass and bioenergy products, but this will not
happen without support for innovation and appropriate public and private
funding mechanisms,” adding, “We hope that this benchmark symposium will be the
catalyst for both.”
NEPAD will also be represented by
Professor Mosad Elmissiry, head of the NEPAD Agency’s Energy Programmes, who is
expected to provide a situation analysis of the bioenergy in Africa and NEPAD’s
strategy for its sustainable development for both food and energy security.
Topics lined up for discussion, according to the organisers, are
status of trans-national investment and bottlenecks for capital deployment and
asset funding criteria for bioenergy and power in Africa.
Meanwhile, promoters of bioenergy projects in the region will
also be given an opportunity to present their business case or pitch for
investment or partner cooperation.
