ECREEE APPOINTS ABDOU FALL AS SUSTAINABLE ENERGY CHAMPION

01^st February, 2021 – The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) has appointed Mr. Abdou Fall as Sustainable Energy Champion to support the ECOWAS region to attain its sustainable energy objectives by 2030 and showcase the region´s place as an ideal destination for low-carbon investment.

The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, in 2013, adopted path-breaking sustainable energy policies - the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the region’s overall electricity mix to 35% in 2020 and 48% in 2030; and the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy, which aims to implement measures that free 2000 MW of power generation capacity and in the long term, more than double the annual improvement in energy efficiency.

In terms of access, and in consistency with the SEforALL goals, the aim is to achieve universal energy access across the ECOWAS region by 2030.

In this context of unprecedented health crisis, as the ECOWAS region has resolutely committed to energy transition, improving energy and food security, and taking a leap forward towards a low-carbon future, the role of the sustainable energy champion has never been more crucial.

In his new role, Mr Fall will work closely with ECREEE, ECOWAS Member States and regional and international partners, including the private sector, to mobilise the required financing and investment for the ECOWAS region’s sustainable energy sector.

Over the next decade, Mr. Fall will play a vital role in fostering investment opportunities, facilitating public-private partnerships, and advocating for the right policy choices to ensure that investments keep pace with the needs of regional energy infrastructure development by 2030.

Mr. Abdou Fall, the first and newly-appointed Champion of Sustainable Energy, has held important state responsibilities in Senegal where he has served as deputy, mayor and minister of state.

He has held important state responsibilities in Senegal where he was a member of parliament, mayor, minister and minister of state.

Mr. Abdou Fall is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Senegalese Investment Promotion Agency (APIX).

Mr. Fall has also been active in the private sector for several years. He was Chairman of the 30MW Merina Ndakhar solar power station, built and operated as part of a partnership between investment fund Meridiam, the group Eiffage and Fonsis.

Abdou Fall was also President of the Renewable Energies Council of Senegal (COPERES), an initiative that brings together all the major private sector players in the sustainable energy field.

He was eminent as private sector and civil society representative in the preparations and outcome of the Paris climate summit in 2015.

Mr. Fall is also President of the Citizen Energy Cooperative Enterprise of Senegal (scecs), the first of its kind in the region whose role is to promote solar systems for domestic and productive use in rural, peri-urban and urban areas.

Mr. Fall was recently co-opted as a qualified personality of the African continent on the Board of Directors of the Energies pour le Monde Foundation (FONDEM), chaired by the French Minister of State, Mr. Jean Louis BORLOO. Mr. Fall is a graduate of the National School of Applied Economics of Dakar (ENEA).

For more information, please contact please send inquiries to helayo(at)ecreee.org and jbarros(at)ecreee.org