Forum of Energy Ministers of Africa (FEMA)

From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations

Daudi Migereko
Chairperson, FEMA
Office Tel +256 414 348 519
Mobile Tel +256 772 435 349
Email: fema@energy.go.ug
Website: http://www.fema-maputo07.com

Jane Nimpamya, FEMA Coordination Unit

Description

FEMA is an informal organization where membership is obtained by African Energy Ministers signing a Memorandum of Understanding (M.o.U) on behalf of their countries. The forum was formed in an inaugural meeting in Entebbe, Uganda in August 2005 where 17 countries were represented as a result of realizing the importance of energy as the engine of development in Africa, energy’s crucial role in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; as well as a significant low level coverage and access of modern energy of about 8 percent, as some of the cross cutting issues. This forum is a platform for ministers responsible for energy in Africa to share experiences and expertise to achieve a common goal of providing modern energy to transform societies in their respective countries.

The Forum of Energy Ministers of Africa (FEMA) was established to provide political leadership, policy direction and advocacy on energy issues, increase access, better utilization and management of energy resources for a sustainable social and economic development of Africa.

The Objectives of the Forum include raising the profile of the energy sector in national and regional planning to reflect its centrality in achieving the Millennium Development Goals; developing a coherent energy strategy for Africa including re-strategizing in order to increase modern energy supply and access; promoting a common approach expressed through specific, national and regional projects of benefit to African countries; speaking with a common voice and collectively advocate for the financing of regional projects; and promoting interconnectivity and the work of the five regional power pools, and develop common technical standards and codes of conduct. The Forum therefore provides a platform for political leadership and policy direction in the energy sector; for collaboration and the exchange of experiences; and for advocacy in the provision, access, use and management of energy resources for sustainable social and economic development.

FEMA is supported by ADB, DFID, the Chine Development Bank, the Australian Government, the European Commission, The European Union, ADF, and the World Bank among others.

Track Record

The Ministerial Forum complements other regional efforts by the African Energy Commission, NEPAD and the Regional Economic Commissions implementing various energy programs.

Considering that energy is critical to our pace of development and has been high on the international agenda, FEMA has done its advocacy at a number of meetings such as:

• UN MDG+5 Summit in September 2005;
• Energy Week 2005 and 2006 organized by the World Bank;
• Commission for Sustainable Development 14th Session in May 2006;
• Side event at the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) meeting held in June 2006 in Addis Ababa.

At these meetings, the need for increased investment in the sector, urgency/efficiency in implementation of energy projects and the regional approach to investment has been highlighted as a means of ensuring energy security in Africa.

The Forum has brought together a number of experts in the energy sector and has come up with workable solutions to overcome the power supply crisis. FEMA liaises with relevant organizations to organize and actively participate in forums for dialogue with the private sector, multilateral financing agencies and donor community. It also collaborates with national governments and sub-regional bodies to ensure that power sector reforms improve efficiency, yield growth and sustainable development.

Challenges

Due to the prolonged drought, electricity generation capacities in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa that were dependant on hydropower cannot meet their own demand. This has resulted in power deficits necessitating load shedding. To reduce on the shortfall in power supply, a number of countries have introduced emergency thermal plants using fossil fuels which have led to increased tariffs.

Escalating oil prices on the international market have had serious consequences for Non-oil producing countries. Oil prices have risen by over 200 percent in the last five years. This has had a negative impact on the economies of 80 percent of the African countries, which import all their petroleum products.

The transmission and distribution networks in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are old and weak generally characterized by high technical and non-technical losses. These losses translate into reduced electricity and therefore high tariff. More importantly, networks cannot enable inter-regional energy trade, which is vital in enhancing security of power supply.

Over the last few years, there have been limited public and domestic financial resources to invest in large infrastructure power projects. It had been assumed that direct foreign investments (DFIs) would replace public investment in the power sector once the sector was reformed. As you are all aware, attracting private sector investment has not materialized as had been anticipated.

In the Sector of Rural Energy and Renewables; it should be noted that there is over dependence on traditional biomass energy with 80 percent of countries in sub-Saharan Africa dependent on fuel-wood and charcoal for cooking and water heating. This has numerous challenges of a health nature added to the massive environmental degradation.

Opportunities

Financing: The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has an Action Plan aimed at developing infrastructure to address these challenges. The energy projects planned for development cover the short, medium to long term. Financing of these projects will go along way in meeting the aspirations of Africa’s people.

• Investment—Domestic resource mobilization and development of financial instruments to facilitate investment in the energy sector should be mainstreamed by African Governments. Governments should come up with innovative products to attract additional financing and investment in the energy sector.
• Pace of Decision Making and Implementation—Together with our Development Partners, there is need to review the process leading to appraisal and decision making with a view to ensuring faster implementation of energy projects. The Chinese and Indians are providing good examples in this regard as undescored in the Sino-African Summit.

Structuring of Projects: FEMA needs to adopt policies encouraging Public-Private partnerships since most African countries are constrained in mobilizing adequate public resources to invest in the development and extension of modern energy services. It also needs to accelerate the implementation of cross-boundary, sub-regional and regional cooperation initiatives relating to the energy sector. This will enhance energy security in the region.

Development of Indigenous Fuels: There have been discoveries of new oil and gas reserves in some African countries such as Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania. Exploration efforts should be stepped up so that more reserves are identified and developed to increase production of petroleum products from our indigenous resources. FEMA needs to harmonize the Production Sharing Agreements between African governments and the oil companies ensuring that maximum benefits are obtained. Some of the benefits arising out of oil production by African countries will permit the early operationalization of the African Petroleum Fund put in place by the African Union in Jan 2006 to help mitigate the ever rising oil prices affecting a number of African countries.