By: ET Energy World

Africa, which accounts for less than 2 per cent of global clean energy investments despite its vast solar potential, will be the focus of the International Solar Alliance’s (ISA) Regional Committee Meeting (RCM) in Accra this week.

The meeting will deliberate on ways to accelerate solar deployment in Africa, with emphasis on financing, food security, skills development and digitalisation.

Announcing the event, ISA Director General Ashish Khanna said, “At the Regional Committee Meeting in Accra, we are moving from ambition to action—partnering on platforms like Mission 300, bringing governments, financiers, innovators, and partners together to unlock private sector-led solar investments, strengthen policies and institutions, and build local capacity.”

The deliberations will include discussions on ISA’s financing mechanisms such as the Africa Solar Facility (ASF) of USD 200 million and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) of USD 25 million to provide technical assistance and de-risk capital.

Africa recorded about 324,000 renewable energy jobs in 2023, with institutional capacity gaps slowing deployment. ISA said it has already set up ten STAR-Centres of Excellence in Africa to provide skilling, testing and innovation support. Collaborations are also planned with IIT Delhi, France’s Institut National de l'Énergie Solaire (INES) and India’s National Power Training Institute (NPTI) to advance digital and AI-led solutions.

The RCM will also address the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) estimate that 95 per cent of Africa’s farmland is rain-fed, by pushing solar irrigation and cold storage applications under ISA’s Scaling Solar Applications for Agricultural Use (SSAAU) programme.

ISA noted that digitalisation, including AI-driven energy management and procurement platforms, could generate savings of up to USD 1.8 trillion in global grid investments by 2050, citing International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.

The meeting will bring together representatives from 39 ISA member countries and seven signatories from Africa.