Ghana to host workshop on Financing and Investments in Mitigation Actions in West Africa

The ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in collaboration with the ACP Business Climate Facility (BizClim) will organise a two-day Regional Workshop on Financing and Investments in Mitigation Actions in West Africa, in Accra from June 4 to June 5, 2012. The workshop will be held against the background and experience gained with Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) finance and renewable energy projects' successes and failures in West Africa and elsewhere. It will examine how policies, technologies, financing and capacity related bottlenecks to the development of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMAs) in West African countries can be addressed to increase access to cleaner and modern energy as an engine for growth and improve the competitiveness of African economies. A statement issued by ECREEE Secretariat and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday, said the meeting would bring together high-level decision makers and experts to provide visible leadership and political commitment to a common strategy for successfully shaping vibrant NAMA activities in the region, to scale up renewable energy and energy efficiency with the view not only to increasing access to energy services but also to ensure the sustainability of the sector and economies at large.

More than 80 high-level experts, government officials and representatives of leading regional and international organisations involved in climate change issues and financing are expected to participate in the workshop. The ACP Business Climate Facility (BizClim) is a programme of the ACP Secretariat financed by the European Union, under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). It aims at fostering a business-enabling environment in ACP countries and regions by improving legislation, institutional frameworks and financial measures relating to the enabling environment of the private sector continued