In collaboration with Sweden, Denmark and Nefco, REEEP is co-organising a COP26 side event, "Mobilising private sector finance in Africa to achieve SDG7 – The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa is incentivising the private sector to scale up access to clean and affordable off-grid energy outcomes".

Off-grid solutions have played a key role in extending energy access to millions of people. More investments are essential to accelerate the deployment of it. The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) is a multi-donor programme, which incentivises the private sector to offer affordable and clean energy access to people in rural areas, in Sub-Saharan African countries. The aim is to enable the establishment of up to 1.35 million energy connections and benefit more than 6 million people by 2026.

The discussions will look at how off-grid electrification can be incentivised and explore financing opportunities for the private sector. The side event will also present first results from the piloting programme in Zambia.

 

Side event schedule and location:

Date: Tuesday, 9 November 2021

Time: 16:45 – 18:00 GMT

Location: Room: Glen Affric Multimedia Studio 3 + Online streaming

 

Online streaming

To watch the live stream, click here.

 

Agenda

Moderator: Ash Sharma, Head of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, Nefco

16:45 Opening by Per Olsson Fridh, Minister for International Development Cooperation of Sweden

16:50 Welcoming by moderator

16:55 Keynote by Koen Peters, Executive Director at GOGLA: The business case for SDG7 investment to reach the rural poor

17:05 Presentation by Peter Storey, Director of Investment and Strategy, REEEP – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership: First implementation results in BGFZ and the scale to BGFA 

17:20 Panel discussion

17:50 Q&A and conclusions

 

Speakers

Tomas Anker Christensen, Climate Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Christensen is Denmark’s first and current Climate Ambassador and has worked for more than 25 years as a Danish diplomat, including as Under-Secretary for Global Challenges and ambassador to Egypt and Iran. From 2012-2018, he was on loan to the United Nations as Senior Adviser for Partnerships and head of the Climate Change Support Team in the Executive Office of UN SG Ban Ki-moon. Additionally, Christensen has worked as Chief Adviser to the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoys for Climate Action and the Ocean.

Koen Peters, Executive Director, GOGLA
Koen Peters is Executive Director at GOGLA, the association for the off-grid solar energy industry.  Koen is a strong advocate of making market solutions work for public goals and believes the off-grid solar industry holds the key to the quickest, most cost-effective and overall best route towards universal energy access. Throughout his 25+ year career he has been active in private and public sector roles to support sustainable and green business development, with a specific interest in promoting energy access and renewable energy in emerging and developing economies.

Peter Storey, Director of Investment and Strategy, REEEP
Peter Storey is a financing professional, specialised in developing countries and transition economies with significant expertise in renewable energy as well as other infrastructure sectors. He has held senior positions with major European banks and project developers and has over 20 years of experience of working on multi-disciplinary advisory and financing mandates and of structuring and developing projects.

Ash Sharma, Head of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, Nefco
Ash Sharma is currently Senior Director at the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation and the fund manager of the BGFA. He is a climate, environmental finance, policy and investment specialist with over 30 years of experience in over 60 countries, with a current focus on Africa. During 2016-2018, he was seconded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danida) as Senior Adviser to the NAMA Facility in Berlin. Sharma has served on various international climate change steering and working groups for Nordic Council of Ministers, UNEP, World Bank, G8 and G20 and has been an adviser to the European Commission, Innovate UK and the Climate Policy Initiative.

 

Event partners

 

 

For more information on COP26, please click here.