SADC seeks regional energy sustainability
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday March 3, 2025 10:21
This was said by the SADC executive secretary, Elias Magosi at the official opening of the Inaugural SADC Sustainable Energy Week held in Gaborone. It was held under the theme 'Accelerating Sustainable Energy Solutions for an Energy Secure SADC Region.' Magosi told the gathering that there is need for collaboration as the region needs an urgent and robust investment in power generation, transmission, and diversification into renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, in addition to deliberate efforts by all to adopt and ensure energy efficiency at all levels.
He appreciated the efforts in the works to interconnect Angola, Malawi, and Tanzania to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) network, to ensure that the region exploited excess power in some countries and to reduce the deficit in others. Despite these efforts, Magosi cited that climate change had laid bare limitations to ascertain a sustainable energy supply and its security. 'We do not only have to grapple with our limited and very difficult ability to minimize pollution from fossil fuels but also we must contend with harsh droughts that have made us extremely vulnerable to continue our dependence on water resources,' he said.
He further said the persisting energy shortage in the region has been a hindrance to economic development across all sectors and SADC member states. He said this has led to inadequate infrastructure development across the board and in recent times the debilitating effects of climate change. The region has an energy mix that highly relies on the coal supply, which makes up 60% of electricity generation, while hydropower is 24 and renewable at just 10%. 'We need a regional approach that is crucial to expanding energy markets, optimising infrastructure development, and addressing the intermitency of renewable sources. It is equally important to address the issue of affordability head-on as well as the creation of an enabling environment for the increased participation of investors and other players including the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Independent Transmission Systems Operators (TSOs) in the Energy Supply Industry (ESI),' said Magosi.
For his part, President Duma Boko said 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. Boko further urged captains of the industry to encourage private sector participation in a bid to mobilise private capital.
It was noted during the seating that some of the SADC member states had introduced almost zero electricity connection fees to tackle the issue of affordability and access, which he said was commendable and worth replicating across the region. To that effect, Magosi said the SADC secretariat was also coordinating the implementation of strategic frameworks to enhance energy access, and improve energy security while promoting sustainable energy solutions.
He said these included the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan (2016) to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency adoption and the Regional Energy Access Strategy and Action Plan (2020) to support off-grid technology development for rural energy access. He indicated that the energy infrastructure projects required substantial financial resources, which governments often lacked.