Lighting the way: How the private sector is driving Côte d’Ivoire’s renewable energy development
By Aditi Maheshwari
Global clean-energy investment is growing, driven by the private sector. Policy signals such as the Paris climate agreement are igniting interest in the industry. But parts of West Africa aren’t yet fully sharing in that growth, due to the perceptions of high investment risk, and a lack of enabling policy environments, among other things.
A recent pilot approach by the IFC in Côte d’Ivoire has immense potential to break that pattern.
Early private sector engagement
Côte d’Ivoire’s climate commitment, formally known as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the global Paris Agreement, pledges to reduce its emissions by 28 percent, in part by achieving 42 percent renewable-energy (RE) generation by 2030. Côte d’Ivoire already had significant existing hydropower assets, supporting policies and processes, and a network of interested stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Additionally, the government was keen to explore new RE technologies and business models to achieve its goal, in part by enhancing its enabling policy framework.
Although eager to shape the emerging sector, many stakeholders had never met, let alone worked together. Many were unclear on existing regulatory frameworks, and there was a widespread lack of access to technical information needed to structure viable investments — such as an explanation of hydropower capacity factors or a mapping of the biomass value chain.
Recognizing the need for an early dialogue, IFC convened a myriad of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. Together, policymakers, regulators, financiers, developers, technical experts, and donor organizations engaged in a series of technology-specific discussions. Participants identified common challenges and developed potential solutions, ultimately creating a diverse and motivated group of stakeholders united under a common purpose. These challenges and solutions related to specific sectors (hydropower, biomass, solar, wind) and cross-cutting issues like finance, policy and regulation were prioritized and captured in “Unlocking Private Investment: A Roadmap to achieve Côte d’Ivoire’s 42 percent renewable energy target by 2030”.
The publishing of this “Roadmap” was just the beginning. IFC positioned its release to take place on the sidelines of the inaugural Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP) convened in Abidjan just one year ago. The third annual AEMP, which just wrapped up on July 4, continued to call on Africa’s power sector leaders to devise new mechanisms to attract private investment. In turn, Côte d’Ivoire’s power sector stakeholders have continued to collaborate, launching Association des Professionels des Energies Renouvelables de Côte d’Ivoire (APER-CI), a new renewable energy association, on July 5 — a year to the day from the launch of the Roadmap.
Maintaining momentum
Early and rapid engagement ensured that the Roadmap captured the most pressing recommendations, which are being leveraged by policymakers and private sector actors alike. Perhaps more importantly, its development process set off a cascading effect of sustained collaboration. Since the release of the Roadmap, stakeholders have continued to make significant achievements:
Launch of APER-CI: Côte d’Ivoire’s new renewable energy association
In March 2019, IFC reconvened over 40 previous Roadmap participants in Abidjan to review progress and chart a path ahead. Having experienced the benefits of collective advocacy in the process of developing the Roadmap — particularly the importance of aligning diverse stakeholders under a common purpose — participants identified opportunities and pledged to maintain momentum. Driven by their shared experience, the group remained action-oriented as they agreed to establish a new RE association inclusive of firms of all sizes and technologies.
Just four months later, eleven Ivorian companies led by AD Solar’s CEO David Achi convened a general assembly, establishing membership and paving the way for formalization of APER-CI, Côte d’Ivoire’s new inclusive RE industry association.
Creation of the Africa Energy Portal (AEP)
One of the most persistent challenges faced by RE investors from Côte d’Ivoire and around the world is a lack of access to consistent information, which is critical to creating a level playing field. Information is the currency required to enable investment, and without it, potential investors can’t identify growth potential and harness a bankable project pipeline. The Africa Energy Portal (AEP) is a one-stop shop that can address that challenge.
In the case of Côte d’Ivoire, the specific types of information needed ranged from financing opportunities to FAQs on whether they have feed-in tariffs or are part of a regional power pool. Stakeholders also called for a calendar of opportunities for networking and capacity training and a database of relevant contacts. IFC actively shaped the structure and content of the Côte d’Ivoire page alongside colleagues at the African Development Bank, and it will serve as a template for other country pages.
Sustained influence on policy development
Today, Côte d’Ivoire is closer to achieving their RE goals than ever before. Within one year, stakeholders have convened from across the energy spectrum, self-organized into a new RE industry association, continued to voice the need for private sector investment at the AEMP, and launched a vital information one-stop shop with the AEP.
Furthermore, the private sector has unlocked a channel for consistent communication with the government to continue advocating for their needs and collaboratively adapt the Roadmap’s solutions to scale up investment and achieve evolving national policy objectives. With everyone’s interests aligned under a common objective, the Ministry of Energy is actively designing a new off-grid policy that will help enable private investment to achieve RE goals.
There is no one size fits all approach: solutions needed to attract investment are context, sector, and technology specific. Moreover, the diverse interests of the private sector, government, and donors exemplify the need to cooperate across the stakeholder ecosystem to achieve climate and clean energy goals. While the Roadmap process demonstrated the transformational effect of collaboration, the developments that continue to evolve after its release bolster its potential for replication across all sectors and locations. IFC will continue to push for actionable outcomes based on dialogues, working directly with governments and the private sector to create markets and scale up investment.
· To visit Côte d’Ivoire’s page on the Africa Energy Portal, see: https://africa-energy-portal.org/country/cote-divoire
· To read more about the Roadmapping process, see: “From opportunity to implementation: The private sector’s role towards achieving national climate targets”
· To access the Roadmap in both English and French, see: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/climate+business/resources/cote-d-ivoire-unlocking-private-investment
Aditi Maheshwari is Senior Operations Officer, IFC Climate Business
