Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND) in Ghana has called on stakeholders to consider the plight of marginalised and vulnerable groups with regard to renewable energy.
Executive Director SYND, Chibeze Ezekiel, said it was crucial to prioritise the groups if a holistic approach is to be adopted to address energy poverty in Africa.
He made the comments during the Alliance of Civil Society Organisations for Clean Energy Access (ACCESS) coalition West Africa regional workshop in Accra, which hosted participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
The two-day event was aimed at developing ACCESS West Africa advocacy strategy in addition to building the capacity of participants.
‘Once we come up with a strategy, it will inform our action plan in pursuing more advocacy activities, media engagements and engaging relevant state and non-state stakeholders’, Myjoyonline.com quoted Ezekiel as saying.
‘If you look at our renewable energy masterplan which came out in February 2019, government is envisaging to create about 220,000 jobs by 2030 across the value chain.
‘So again it is an employment opportunity for young people’.
For the International Coordinator for ACCESS, Jacqueline Kimeu, she said, ‘We are also going to work with them (civil society organisations) to influence the financing mechanisms for World Bank and African Development Bank so that these banks can prioritize financing sustainable energy systems in the country’.
Kenya Climate Change Working Group (KCCWG) Chairman, John Kioli, said the critical issue of energy poverty had been further complicated by vulnerability to climate change effects.
Source: My Joy Online
Photo source: SYND
