A high-level seminar was organised by RES4MED&Africa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, addressed to a select group of senior officials at the Ministry. A number of leading market operators gave participants an overview of the increasing importance of renewable energy sources in Italian economic diplomacy.
It is of both global and national interest to ensure the diversification and safety of energy demand, as confirmed by Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the UN 2030 Agenda and the 2017 Italian National Energy Strategy. Renewable energy sources play an increasingly important role in this strategy. By now, they are universally recognised as key to the sustainable development of markets and policies in emerging countries, especially in the Southern Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Renewable energy plays a significant role in our energy policies, and therefore, also in Italy’s international actions at bilateral level, in the main multilateral fora and in supporting the excellence of our enterprises. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation invests heavily in providing its diplomats with updated instruments to meet the challenges in this ever-evolving key sector” said Envoy Massimo Gaiani, DG for Global Affairs (DGMO), who gave the opening speech.
Cooperation between the private and public sectors is of vital importance to increase the efficiency of the mass development of renewable energy sources. “A bright future and achievement of universal access to electricity in Africa will occur through the promotion of regional programmes backed by international organisations. This is the idea behind RES4MED&Africa: a platform that counts among its partners leading entities from the entire Italian and international chain of production in the area, and which provides opportunities for interaction to promote the public-private partnership,” confirmed Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power and Chairman of RES4MED&Africa.
Some of the main Italian operators and members of RES4MED&Africa, including Terna, Italgen and the Maccaferri Group, brought their direct experience and viewpoints to the event. They spoke about main technologies in terms of the level of potential, costs, new business models and the economic-social effects of the mass development of renewable energy.
