Rwanda has officially become part of a global universal energy initiative, dubbed “Sustainable Energy For All,” a United Nations- led initiative geared toward actions and commitments to positively transform the world’s energy systems, New Times reports.
“Sustainable Energy For All” initiative was launched globally in 2012 by outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in recognition of the growing importance of energy for economic development and climate change mitigation.
The decision by Rwanda to be part of the initiative was made Monday during the third annual iPAD Rwanda Energy Infrastructure Forum in Kigali.
The initiative is aimed at scaling up access to energy, promoting the use of clean cooking technologies and increasing use of renewable sources of energy for electricity production as well as efficient use of energy at the local level.
The country’s energy division manager at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Robert Nyamvumba said that by implementing the global initiative, Rwanda would seek to address issues in gender, health and energy access.
Nyamvumba said the implementation of the initiative is also in line with the national rural electrification strategy that was approved by Cabinet this year.
He also added that it will attempt to address the high dependence on biomass fuels in the country and reduce from the current 85 per cent use to about 50 per cent by 2020 while the target is under 30 per cent by 2030.
This will largely lead to the promotion of clean cooking technologies which are increasingly cheaper due to tax reliefs.
According to the Minister for Infrastructure, James Musoni, the Government will promote the use of liquefied petroleum gas, which is currently cheaper than charcoal.
