By Abubakarr Harding
The 7th Edition of the ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF 2022) will be hosted by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Power of Nigeria at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, Nigeria from the 31 October – 01 November 2022, under the high patronage of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Muhammadu Buhari.
The theme for this year’s forum is Achieving Sustainable Energy Targets in the ECOWAS Region: Moving from Resilience to Transition.
ECREEE is the specialized agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with a mandate for promoting sustainable energy markets in the West Africa region. ECREEE instituted the ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF) in 2016 to mobilize investment in the region’s sustainable energy sector. The forum has since become the largest sustainable energy gathering in the West African region, providing a veritable platform for collaboration and transformative progress towards achieving the region’s sustainable energy targets.
The two-day event will bring together diverse group of stakeholders from within and outside the region. The expected participants include high-level representatives from government, regional and international development partners/donors, regional and international private sector companies, financial institutions, academia and research and civil society representatives to discuss and proffer solutions to the challenges hampering the development of a regional sustainable energy market, examine policies needed to improve energy security and achieve Sustainable Development goal (SDG 7) and what is needed to transition to a low-carbon energy trajectory in the region.
This year’s ESEF is notable in many ways. It will be the first face-to-face event since the COVID-19 pandemic; be hosted for the first time in the city of Abuja, the headquarters of the ECOWAS Commission; and will be featured as part of the International Energy Transition Week (IETW), which also includes the IRENA West African Investment Forum and the annual International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition (IOREC) from the 2ND to 4TH November.
The event will also feature an exhibition for organizations looking to showcase their products and services. The exhibition is open to all actors across the sustainable energy value chain (manufacturers, EPC contractors, financing institutions, distributors, suppliers, etc.). ESEF2022 will also host an innovative Business-to-Business (B2B) Matchmaking to serve as an avenue to foster partnerships, business development and investment.
ESEF2022 is being organized in collaboration with a host of reputable partners, including the Ministry of Power of Nigeria, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the World Bank Group, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), the Government of the Netherlands, the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), amongst others.
