Ethiopia, an East African country, and Morocco, a North African country, plan to strengthen their partnership in the field of renewable energy. To this end, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Sileshi Bekele, and Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Minerals and the Environment, Aziz Rabbah, have scheduled a virtual meeting on May 22, 2020.
The authorities of the two countries discussed the possibilities of accelerating the implementation of the Coalition for Sustainable Energy Access, in order to improve the capacity of the electricity sector. Ethiopia and Morocco formed the coalition at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 in New York, United States. The initiative aims to ensure 100 percent access to electricity in least developed and developing countries by 2030.
Ethiopia and Morocco have recently made great strides in the renewable energy sector. Currently, several projects are under way in both countries. In Ethiopia, the latest is an ongoing project to install 25 mini-hybrid mini-grids financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). This project aims to provide access to electricity to all Ethiopians by 2025.
Morocco, for its part, aims to increase the share of renewable energies in the energy mix to 52%. The country has the necessary resources to meet this challenge. According to a recent report on emerging offshore wind markets, carried out by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme, Morocco has – in addition to its solar resources – a “fantastic” offshore wind resource “too attractive to ignore”. The analysis was carried out in partnership with the International Finance Corporation.
Inès Magoum