African Energy Transition Week (“AETW”) is the advocacy platform of the Just & Equitable Energy Transition for Africa (“JET4Africa”) Initiative led by the International Centre for Energy (“ICE”) towards driving global engagement on energy transition, climate resilience, and sustainable infrastructure across Africa. In this critical decade leading up to 2030 when the world aims to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals, ICE is committed to ensuring that Africa is not left behind. Through collaboration, innovation, and advocacy, ICE is leading the charge for a just and equitable energy transition that benefits all people. The guiding principle is simple but consequential: “people & planet” as against “planet over people”. While the shift from carbon-heavy economies to carbon-neutral agenda by 2050 is understandable, this scale of change, though daunting, presents massive opportunities for profound growth and lasting change and the decisions to be made over the next few years are crucial, as they will determine whether our existence on Earth, as we know it, will continue, or collapse because of human activities.
The way forward is clear. Charting a ground breaking route to socio-economic development with green, renewable energy is unavoidable – but it must be with far more than pacts and pledges, but rather, with an accurate map that displays African and Caribbean development priorities, one that tells their unique story of abundance: Africa possessing 60 percent of the world’s solar resource, one that engages local intellect, attracts private sector investment, fosters enabling environments, and drives real implementation across both government and industry.
As a landmark advocacy platform under the Just & Equitable Energy Transition for Africa (“JET4Africa”) initiative, the overarching objective of AETW is to drive policy reforms that prioritize energy access, development and sustainability, while fostering public and private sector collaboration to unlock investment in renewable energy. This means not only leveraging Africa’s abundant natural resources, including solar, wind, and hydropower, but building the infrastructure and human capital required to sustain long-term growth. Through the all-important AETW conference which is scheduled to take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2027, delegates would be afforded a critical opportunity of direct interaction with policymakers, industry leaders, investors, and development partners from across Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to shape a practical, inclusive, and forward-looking pathway towards energy transition which accommodates the realities of the African and Caribbean transition pathways; the reality that the African continent contributes minimally to global emissions and grapples with widespread energy poverty, the reality that there exists a persistent gap between the capital demands of the energy sector and the actual levels of financing being deployed to meet those demands, and the reality that the demand for a universal zero emission timeline is not just unrealistic, it is unethical.