Rwanda has been elected for the 14th Assembly Presidency of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) slated for January 2024. The Assembly is the supreme organ of IRENA consisting all 168 members of the agency and this means that Rwanda will oversee its proceedings and be the champion of energy dialogue throughout 2024. Speaking during the 13th Assembly meetings held in Abu Dhabi from January 14 to 15, Emmanuel Hategeka, Rwandan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, accepted the responsibility and said Rwanda remains committed to different initiatives within the framework of global climate action and targets. “Rwanda believes that renewable energy is part and parcel of sustainable transformation. This is anchored in the national vision of becoming a green, climate-resilient, and low-carbon economy by 2050,” he said. The country targets to achieve universal access to electricity by 2024 with renewable energy constituting 60 percent of the energy mix, according to him, “the current cumulative access to electricity is 75.3 percent of which renewables have a share of 50.7 percent.” Hategeka added that Rwanda's priorities in renewable energy – which offer opportunities for collaboration and private investment – include increasing energy generation from hydro, solar and new technologies for energy transition. He commended IRENA's initiatives aimed at supporting member states in terms of sharing expertise, capacity building and resource mobilization. The 13th assembly held dialogues on Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, harnessing opportunities for renewable energy-centred transition, and de-risking supply, including materials innovation and recycling, and making the supply chain more environmentally and socially sustainable, among others. There are continuous efforts to engage countries around the world to ratify and implement the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol which aims to protect the ozone layer and accelerate actions to mitigate climate change. While Africa is the least emitter of greenhouse gases, it is most affected by climate change and challenged to access climate adaptation financing. However, during 27th climate change conference (COP27) held in 2022, Africa was able to raise $150 million climate finance to accelerate its adaptation to climate change.
