Vacancy: Technical Expert to the Central African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CEREEAC), Extended deadline for applications: 31 July 2023
Background:
Under the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) program, UNIDO supports the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in the establishment of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for Central Africa (CEREEAC), which aims to accelerate the energy and climate transition by providing support „from the region for the region“. The geographic scope of the centre includes Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe. The Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) through the Ministry of European and International Affairs (BMeiA) is providing financial support for the first operational phase of the centre.
The technical and institutional design of the CEREEAC is the result of a comprehensive consultative preparatory process, which was undertaken by UNIDO and ECCAS between 2020 and 2021. The centre was adopted by the Energy Ministers on 8 June 2021 and formally established by Decision No. 04/CEEAC/CCEG/XIX/21 of the 19th Conference of Heads of State and Government held on 30 July 2021 in Brazzaville. Following a competitive selection process, Luanda, Angola was designated as the host location of the CEREEAC Secretariat. The Secretariat will operate through a network of National Focal Institutions (NFIs) and Thematic Hubs (THs) among all ECCAS countries. The CEREEAC management operates under the guidance and oversight of a Ministerial Steering Committee and an Executive Board.
The CEREEAC aims to address demand and supply-side barriers for integrated and inclusive ECCAS sustainable energy product and service markets by promoting economies of scales, equal progress, joint learning and spill-over effects between countries. Through cross-border approaches and methodologies, the centres will complement and accelerate national efforts in the areas of policy, regulation, quality infrastructure, qualification, knowledge and facilitation of investment and entrepreneurship. It will serve as a central hub for knowledge, counselling, as well as international and local partnerships.
The creation of the CEREEAC is an important contribution to the envisaged structural transformation in Central Africa. Global emergencies, such as climate change, the COVID-19 health and economic crisis and frequent oil price fluctuations are demonstrating the vulnerability of Central African countries, which are highly dependent on the export of raw materials, including oil and gas. The shift towards renewables energy and resource efficiency, as well as circular economy practices is an important prerequisite for the success of economic diversification, industrialisation and climate actions. The expansion of higher added value manufacturing and servicing in Central Africa requires rapid investments in climate-resilient low-carbon energy infrastructure.
With the creation of the CEREEAC, the GN-SEC will cover the entire African continent. The Centre will become an important triangular capacity hub to accelerate the implementation of the industrialisation, energy and climate goals in the African Union Agenda 2063 “The Africa We want”. It contributes to the AU efforts to establish a harmonised continental electricity market and free trade area, as well as the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016–2025). UNIDO will facilitate south-south and triangular cooperation between CEREEAC and the other African centres, including RCREEE (Egypt), ECREEE (Cape Verde), SACREEE (Namibia) and EACREEE (Kampala) on common energy issues and solutions.
From the very beginning, the centre will operate according to local rules and within ECCAS ownership and decision-making processes. UNIDO provides mentoring and technical services related to institution-building, technical program development, partnership building and fund mobilisation throughout the first operational phase of the centre. It is envisaged that the centre reaches full independence and financial and technical sustainability by the end of the project period. The centre will start with a small gender-balanced multicultural team of technical and administrative experts and can expand depending on its performance and raised programmatic funding.
Therefore, as part of the peer-to-peer institution building efforts, UNIDO is recruiting a Technical Expert (TE), to be located in the CEREEAC Secretariat in Luanda, Angola. The expert will support the CEREEAC Head of the Start-Up Unit (HSU) in the establishment of the centre, its key operational processes, quality frameworks, technical programs and partnerships. The HSU has the overall CEREEAC management responsibility and decision-making power, while the TE will contribute with technical expertise towards the establishment of the centre. The TE will report to the UNIDO PM and the HSU through regular coordination meetings.
Further information is available at the UNIDO website: https://careers.unido.org/job/Technical-Expert-to-CEREEAC/947698155/ &n…;
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