Nairobi, 24th January 2018
Africa’s clean energy future is getting momentum as electricity access is accelerating and increasingly coming from renewable sources. However, in 2016, an overwhelming 48% of the African population still lacked access to electricity. Alongside the efforts indicated by IEA to provide electricity for all by 2030, a key element in the race from poverty to prosperity in Africa, is indeed education.
By improving knowledge and sharing practice with skilled and passionate individuals in the electricity sector, a clean energy future can be achieved in Africa. To this aim, Enel Foundation is joining forces with Academia in Italy and Africa to establish a training venture, dubbed Open Africa Power, which combines in-depth, disciplinary knowledge with a holistic know-how in the electricity sector.
The program is targeted at young and exceptionally talented MSc and PhD students, as well as alumni of Engineering, Law and Business from African universities. Strathmore University, in cooperation with University of Nairobi, will host the first module of the training. Successful students will then access training courses held by Politecnico of Turin and SDA Bocconi University.
At the official signing of the agreement during the RES4Africa conference in Strathmore University on January 24th, Carlo Papa, Director of the Enel Foundation said “education is one of the most powerful and proven tool of sustainable development. Sharing knowledge on all aspects of sustainable electricity production and distribution, from technology to policy and regulation, we will win the race to a clean energy future for Africa”.
Professor Izael Da Silva, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Strathmore, said “Strathmore is honoured to collaborate with Enel Foundation in the Open Africa Power program. We strongly believe that opening more and more the African education ecosystem to partnerships with private sector and prestigious universities will contribute to achieve universal access through renewable sources and smart grids”.