Launch of the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL) Initiative In Tanzania

H.E. Prof. Sospeter Muhongo officially launching the SE4ALL initiative alongside UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, AfDB’s Resident Representative, Ms. Tonia Kandiero, and EU Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr. Roeland Van De Geer

On Monday 11th July 2016, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, officially launched Tanzania’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative. At the event, officiated by H.E. Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, Minister of Energy and Minerals, two key documents – the SE4ALL Action Agenda (AA) and the SE4ALL Investment Prospectus (IP) were presented to stakeholders including development partners, civil society and embassies.

SE4ALL is an ambitious initiative announced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in 2011 with the aim of catalysing all stakeholders into achieving sustainable energy for all. It has three key goals to be achieve by 2030;
1.    Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services;
2.    Double the share of renewable energy (RE) in the global energy mix and;
3.    Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency (EE).

The SE4ALL Action Agenda provides the overall strategy to be used by the Government through a long-term vision to ensure a sector-wide coherence towards the three goals. The Agenda will serve as a basis for donor coordination and assistance in the energy sector. The SE4ALL Investment Prospectus, is a short to medium term document that identifies implementable programs and projects that can be presented to potential private and public investors.

In his opening remarks, UN Resident Coordinator for Tanzania, Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez, highlighted the major role that the UN, particularly through UNDP, will play in achieving the ambitious agenda however acknowledged that “to achieve SE4ALL targets, effective stakeholders’ engagement is essential.” SE4ALL, he said, will play a key role in achieving SDG 7 on access to affordable and clean energy services while highlighting the importance of energy in achieving other SDGs.

Launching the initiative, H.E. Prof. Muhongo, reaffirmed Tanzania’s commitment to achieving the SE4ALL goals underlining that Tanzania was among the first countries to adopt the initiative in 2012. He thanked UNDP for their continued support and collaboration and stressed the importance of stakeholder partnerships in realising the ambitious agenda. He also acknowledged the generous financial support from the World Bank, AfDB, and the EU. 

In his presentation, the UNDP’s Programme Specialist on Energy, Climate Change and Extractives, Mr. Abbas Kitogo, announced UNDP’s planned Sustainable Energy for All Programme (SEFAP Tanzania), which will support the Government of Tanzania in creating enabling frameworks to fast-track the implementation of the SE4ALL initiative in Tanzania. Mr. Kitogo highlighted the total resource requirement for the programme was $20 million, calling on interested partners to join UNDP in this major initiative that will target both upstream and downstream interventions.

An interactive roundtable discussion with key stakeholders in the energy field was also held with high-level representatives from REA, TATEDO, WWF, AfDB, DfID, TAREA, USAID, NGSEN and the EU, with the focus on topic being on how best to turn the agenda into action. Each of the respective institutes recognised the importance of sustainable energy while re-affirming their commitments to achieving the goals set forth in the documents.

In closing, the UNDP Country Director for Tanzania, Ms. Awa Dabo, while recognising the high scale of energy poverty in Tanzania, called for greater investment from private and financial institutions in order to match the level of support required to achieve SE4ALL targets by 2030. Ms. Dabo reaffirmed UNDP commitment to supporting SE4ALL implementation and its willingness to cooperate with partners through its planned programme SEFAP.