DAKAR
Senegal is advancing a national energy efficiency plan that could lift energy productivity by 70% by 2050 as rising demand, costs and urbanization put increasing pressure on the country’s energy system.
The proposed National Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan was developed with support from the African Energy Commission and technical assistance from the European Union-funded Continental Energy Program in Africa, according to an African Union statement released Tuesday.
Modeling carried out as part of the initiative indicates Senegal could increase energy productivity by 70% by 2050 and 100% by 2063, the statement said.
“The results of the modeling show that Senegal has the strategic and operational levers to increase its energy productivity by 70% by 2050 and 100% by 2063, thereby exceeding the continental targets,” Mame Coumba Ndiaye, director general of Senegal’s Agency for Energy Economy and Management, said in the statement.
The targets compare with the African Energy Efficiency Strategy and Action Plan’s continental ambition of improving Africa’s energy productivity by 50% by 2050 and 70% by 2063.
Senegal is seeking to make energy efficiency a key part of its longer-term energy transition and development agenda as it contends with increasing demand and costs, rapid urbanization and pressure to improve economic competitiveness, according to the statement.
The proposed framework also includes Energy Performance of Buildings Guidelines and Minimum Energy Performance Standards adapted to Senegal’s circumstances.
Senegal’s Agency for Energy Economy and Management, which operates under the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, presented the proposals to about 60 representatives from government, businesses, financial institutions, professional bodies and development partners at a Sept. 10 workshop in Dakar.
Participants reviewed the strategy, action plan and building-efficiency measures and provided recommendations intended to strengthen their alignment with Senegal’s national priorities.
The proposals were developed through consultations, data collection, technical analysis and energy-efficiency modeling. The approach aims to identify priority measures, clarify institutional responsibilities and establish a basis for programs and investments that could generate measurable energy savings.
The strategy, action plan and building-performance instruments are expected to be refined and finalized following the stakeholder review.
Senegal is one of four countries in the initiative’s first pilot phase, alongside Burundi, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. The African Energy Commission plans to use lessons from the pilot countries to refine its methodology and inform its possible wider application across African Union member states.
The commission also plans to continue working with Senegalese institutions on capacity development, monitoring, results measurement and engagement with technical and financial partners as the country moves toward implementation.
The initiative also supports the African Union’s broader Agenda 2063 ambitions by translating continental energy-efficiency goals into national action, with Senegal’s modeling indicating it could exceed Africa’s 2063 energy-productivity target.
