President of the Republic of Botswana Advocate Duma Gideon Boko on 24 February officially opened the inaugural Southern African Development Community (SADC) Sustainable Energy Week Conference in Gaborone, Botswana, with a call on SADC Member States and stakeholders to act to achieve an energy-secure SADC region.
The Inaugural SADC Sustainable Energy Week is being hosted by the Government of Botswana through the Ministry of Minerals and Energy from 24-28 February 2025 under the Accelerating Sustainable Energy Solutions for an Energy Secure SADC Region”.
“The time for talk is over. It’s time to act! Let’s work together to build a future where every home, business, and industry in SADC has access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy”, emphasised the President in his Keynote Address.
The President highlighted that investing in sustainable energy is not only an environmental decision but an economic imperative and called on SADC Member States to exploit the region’s vast renewable resources such as solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal for socio-economic benefit.
The President urged captains of the industry to encourage private sector participation, as they could mobilise private capital. “From small and medium enterprises to global investors, we invite you to partner with us, not only to build infrastructure but to also cultivate the talent and knowledge necessary to sustain it”, highlighted President Advocate Boko.
Honourable Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, Minister of Minerals and Energy of the Republic of Botswana and Honourable July G. Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Chairperson of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Energy expressed gratitude to the President for gracing the Inaugural SADC Sustainable Energy Week and for underscoring the urgent need for regional collaboration in addressing the challenges of energy access, energy security, sustainability, and innovation in our region.
The Executive Secretary of SADC, His Excellency Mr. Elias M. Magosi said energy security and universal access to energy remain critical catalysts for regional integration and true economic development across all sectors and Member States.
“The SADC region continues to face power shortages due primarily to inadequate infrastructure development across the board, and in recent times, the debilitating effects of climate change. Currently, in terms of the regional energy mix, coal makes 60% of electricity generation, while hydropower is at 24%, with renewable energy trailing at around 10%", he highlighted and added that climate change has laid bare the limitations of the SADC region to ascertain a sustainable energy supply and its security.
The SADC Executive Secretary highlighted that, given the region’s current access rate of 56%, which translates to approximately 600 million people in the Sub-Saharan Africa who do not have access to electricity, and out of which almost 172 million or 29%, are SADC citizens, there is need for partners in the energy sector to intensify the level of access to electricity by creating and embracing innovative financing mechanisms and alternative access solutions.
The SADC Sustainable Energy Week was commissioned as an annual event by a meeting of the Joint Committee of SADC Ministers responsible for Energy and Water, in May 2024 in the Republic of Angola, and the Republics of Botswana and Zimbabwe committed to hosting the event in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
The event is being hosted and supported in collaboration with SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) together with the International Cooperating Partners (ICPs) including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Austrian Development Cooperation/ Agency (ADA) through the programme aimed to enhance capacity building on solar thermal demonstrations (SOLTRAIN+) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
SADC Sustainable Energy Week has brought together Ministers responsible for Energy from the SADC Member States, International Cooperating Partners, sponsors, members of the academia, private sector, Non-Governmental Organisations and the media. The five-day event features high-level presentations, panel discussions, business-to-business meetings and networking sessions, focusing on policy frameworks, investment opportunities, financing, grid integration, and renewable energy technologies for a just energy transition.
