The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will from the 13th to the 15th of October 2021 convene a three-day virtual meeting of the Energy Sector Sub-committees comprising electricity, petroleum and gas to evaluate progress on the implementation of relevant decisions and directives of the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, Council of Ministers and Sectoral Meetings of Ministers responsible for Energy and of Finance and Investment.
Among the key issues to be discussed at the meeting include the draft Agreement Amending the Protocol on Energy, operationalisation of the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE), admission of Kafue Gorge Regional Training Centre (KGRTC) as regional Centre of Excellence and policy issues related to electrical energy, renewable energy, petroleum and gas sub-activities and cross-cutting issues on institutional capacity building which were approved at the 39th joint virtual meeting in October 2020 by Ministers responsible for Energy.
Ministries and Departments responsible for Energy and their respective energy regulatory bodies, national power utilities, agencies responsible for rural electrification as well as national oil and gas companies of Member States and International Cooperating Partners, especially those supporting regional energy programmes, will participate in the meeting and deliberate on the challenges, risks and achievements made in implementing regional energy projects.
The meeting is expected to result in enhanced understanding and involvement of Member States in the development of the Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF); updated information and progress on Regional energy infrastructure projects, studies undertaken and consideration of the establishment of the Working Group to fast-track regional energy projects; status of Inter-governmental Memoranda of Understanding (IGMOUs); recommendations on strengthening of the Regional Energy Regulatory Authority (RERA); constituting SACREEE as a legal entity and admission of Kafue Gorge Regional Training Centre (KGRTC) as regional Centre of Excellence.
This meeting will be guided by the SADC Protocol on Energy which aims to facilitate and coordinate and achieve availability of sufficient, reliable, least cost energy services that will assist in the attainment of economic growth, industrialisation and the eradication of poverty whilst ensuring the environmentally sustainable use of energy resources in the SADC Region.
