Access to energy, Sustainable Development Goal 7, was at the heart of discussions at the AFD Digital Energy Day on 25 September in Abidjan. More than 70 key players gathered to discuss issues related to innovations in the sector.
Agence française de développement (AFD), with the support of the European Union, organised this event where innovative businesses, electricity companies and financial institutions came together in partnership with The Box and Mstudio, two major incubators in the region, to exchange views on new solutions to accelerate access to energy.
Among the players present were Compagnie Ivoirienne d'Électricité, Société Béninoise d'Électricité, Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET), GS2E, TANESCO, Sagemcom, EDF, Société Nationale de l'Électricité des Comores (SONELEC) and the winning companies of the Digital Energy Challenge: CPCS, GRET, PAM Africa, Roseau Technologies, SBEE, Schneider Electric, Smarterise, etc. on the AFD Group, Expertise France and Proparco side.
Discussions focused on making the most of energy data, digitalising the customer journey, financial and smart metering innovations, integrating artificial intelligence, and many other related subjects. The debates clarified the future challenges of electrification in the continent's countries by taking a critical look at current electricity supply models, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas.
The event was also an opportunity to celebrate and record the support provided, in partnership with Investisseurs & Partenaires, for the project of Nora Monnet, winner of the RFI/France24 Challenge App prize. This project, GreenED, which offers a multilingual interface accessible offline, targeted educational content and a community forum, facilitates the training of local players involved in sustainable development and electrification projects. This is particularly important in the current context, where it is estimated that 8 out of 10 of the 670 million people without electricity live in Africa, the vast majority of them in rural areas.
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Since 2020, AFD has been implementing Digital Energy with the support of the European Union and ADEME.
The aim? To offer a full range of resources to support African energy operators and start-ups in their digitization process: technical assistance projects, calls for projects, networking opportunities and seed financing.
Since its launch in 2020, nearly thirty projects have been supported through grants, loans or technical assistance, and around ten public operators have received support for their digital projects.
Marc Bushman, EU
Marc & Cyril, EU x AFD
Dr Patrick Aguese, PAM Africa
Cyril Renault, AFD Digital Energy Program Manager
Stéphane Madou, AFD EGI CI
Antoine Djigbenou, CIE
Nora Monet, GreenED
Vivien Banier, ENAccess Foundation
Paul-Emmanuel Tia, ZEBOX
Visit of MSTUDIO
Nora Monet, GreenED
Jérôme Gaonach, AETS
Thierry Lacroix, Head of Africa Onepoint
