The overall goal of this workshop was to consult ADB's member countries and other key stakeholders in the energy sector on strategies to promote sustainable energy services in Africa with a special focus on assessing their technical assistance and training needs in order to develop appropriate interventions.

This international workshop gathered the Bank's member countries, representatives from multilateral organisations, other regional development banks, private sector partners and suppliers in this field, as well as bilateral organisations.

The ADB team also presented the outcomes of the on-going sub-regional assessments led in five regions including Northern, Eastern, Western, Central and Southern Africa.

One of the expected outcomes of this workshop is a capacity building programme that will be developed into a long-term action plan that could be used to mobilise additional bilateral resources for its implementation.

This consultative workshop on developing sustainable energy for poverty reduction in Africa is part of the strategy and work plan development for the FINESSE programme. The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Unit (PSDU) of the Bank is currently implementing the Financing Energy Services for Small-Scale Energy Users (FINESSE) programme.

The government of the Netherlands, through its Ministry of Development Co-operation (DGIS), is funding the FINESSE programme through a grant of over US$ 5.3 million provided to the Bank.

At the closing of the workshop, PSDU Chief Mr Yogesh Vyas, declared: "There was strong affirmation of the commitment of regional member countries to accelerate provision of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Africa,".

This event is the ADB Group's response to the concrete evidence which show strong links between access to sustainable energy services and poverty reduction. The FINESSE programme is being implemented pursuant to the Bank's overarching goal of reducing poverty and in light of the increasing global momentum to promote increased access to sustainable energy systems.

The main aim of the FINESSE programme is to assist the Bank's regional member countries (RMC), working through the Bank, to formulate appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks and develop capacity to generate a pipeline of sustainable energy investment projects.

Finally, the international developments related to climate change and the role in mitigating this through renewable energy and energy efficiency are very closely monitored by the FINESSE team, as they do represent huge opportunities for the Bank.

In this respect the recently acquired direct access to funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) will enable the Bank to tap into grant finance that is available for projects related to mitigation of climate change.