Leaders from Member States, the United Nations, the African Union and other partners from the Interdepartmental Taskforce on African Affairs (IDTFAA) continued their exchange on energy issues in Africa, discussing the way forward on energy access and just energy transition for the continent. 爆料公社 Deputy Secretary-General opened the conversation, which was moderated by the United Nations Special Adviser on Africa.
Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA)
Since its inception in May 2003, OSAA convenes and chairs the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA) at both principal and expert levels to ensure a coherent and integrated approach for United Nations support to Africa.
Serving as the mechanism for UN System-wide consultations and coordination on key UN activities on Africa and anchored in the interlinkage between development, peace and security, the IDTFAA provides a mechanism to follow-up on the implementation of all global summit and conference outcomes related to the continent.
The Task Force is also a platform for the coordination of global advocacy in support of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), playing a key role during Africa Week on the margin of the High-level debate of the UN General Assembly debate or while preparing reports of the Secretary-General on Africa.
Compendia
2023: Africa Agri-Food Systems Transition
The 2023 Compendium is a collective publication by the 54 UN entities members of the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs (IDTFAA). The Compendium includes strategic analysis, best practices and game-changing solutions discussed by IDTFAA members, the African Union Commission, Member States, and representatives from the private sector and farmers’ associations, to build Africa's food sovereignty and resilience. Some of the key messages comprise the following:
Achieving food sovereignty would accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals, lifting millions out of poverty, creating decent work, improving health and education outcomes, and raising living standards.
Access to adequate infrastructure, technology, skills (irrigation, storage, roads, energy), early warning technology, fertilizers, high-yield seeds, and social protection measures for smallholder farmers is essential for agri-food systems transformation and building Resilience.
Emphasis should be put on de-risking investment in agriculture projects by leveraging cost-effective instruments to promote and scale up private sector investments.
2022: African Energy Access and Just Transition Trajectory Anchored on the African Common Position
This IDTFAA compendium aggregates the findings and recommendations from the work of its members and their partners in 2022. It focuses on the centrality of the 7th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) in implementing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, reflecting the importance of energy as a key entry point to sustain Africa's economic transformation. During the year, the IDTFAA exchanged on the issues of energy financing, energy technology and energy planning, noting that Africa’s development and commercialization of renewable energy sources are impeded by factors related to these issues. The IDTFAA compendium highlights the related findings while outlining how energy transition offers a real opportunity to address energy poverty in Africa. It determines that the energy transition model of African countries is gradually reaching maturity, with national energy strategies increasingly featuring the development of renewables and the promotion of energy efficiency.
2021: Compendium Report of the Interdepartmental Task Force on African Affairs
While African countries are progressively turning towards a renewable energy future, the current geopolitical crisis renewed interest in African energy resources for populations outside the continent. In this context, energy access and just energy transition should drive the conversation about energy and climate in Africa. Developing the African energy sector requires an increased capacity to build and maintain infrastructures that will enable effective processing and supplies of energy commodities and services, which requires the skilled capacity to manufacture, install, operate, and maintain these infrastructures. The continent should aim for a sustainable, adequate, affordable, competitive, and reliable energy supply at the minimum cost that meets national needs while preserving the environment and protecting against climate change.