Energy efficiency should become part of the nation’s psyche, and energy-wasteful practices should be seen as anti-social or even illegal, Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told an Energy Efficiency Week event.
Addressing the Southern African Development Community’s conference on the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (Reeep) in the Magaliesberg on Sunday, Mlambo-Ngcuka noted that 80% of people in Africa do not have access to
reliable electricity.
”A big challenge for Africa is that the private sector and governments work together to take greater responsibility for this access, and that we do so through the transfer of skills and not merely the transfer of technology, which creates dependencies,” the minister said.
”We’re racing against time in so many ways, to ensure that energy is accessible, clean, affordable, reliable and secure, and the Reeep’s action and outcomes-based approach will help achieve our targets.”
Reeep, a global initiative launched by the British government at last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, provides a framework in which partners can take joint actions to promote the sustainable use of energy, particularly from renewable sources.
Speaking before the Magaliesberg meeting, the head of the Reeep secretariat, Dr Amal-Lee Amin, said Reeep would promote development in Southern Africa.
”The Reeep’s overriding objective is to accelerate the global uptake of sustainable energy sources and technologies in order to deliver key development goals. The meeting in Magaliesberg will build on the success of our launch meetings in London, Washington, Kiev, Nairobi, Accra, and Budapest,” said Amin.
”It’s almost a year since the Reeep was launched in South Africa. Now is the time to take stock and commit to work programmes in Southern Africa and other regions that form our partnership,” she said.
Glynn Morris, chief executive of Agama Energy and facilitator of the Reeep meeting, said the Reeep’s members and know-how would boost sustainable energy in the Southern African region.
”The Reeep can make a significant contribution through drawing the region together in capacity-building, market research and awareness-raising, establishing blueprints and demonstration projects for sustainable energy, and championing the benefits of regional trade in sustainable energy,” he said.
The conference, which ends on Monday, is being attended by representatives of energy and environmental ministries, electricity regulators, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, and financing organisations, from Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa, as well as
representatives from Agama Energy, the Minerals and Energy Department and Reeep secretariat. – Sapa