First meeting between National Associations took place in Cape Verde

The first in-person meeting between the National Renewable Energy Associations of the Portuguese-speaking African countries took place in Cape Verde on 31st October 2024.

Mayra Pereira, representing AMER - Mozambican Renewable Energy Association; Victor Fontes, representing ASAER - Angolan Renewable Energy Association; Jansénio Delgado and Emílio Benrós, representing ACER - Cape Verdean Renewable Energy Association; and Isabel Cancela de Abreu and Rita Marouço, from ALER attended the meeting.

Each association shared the state of their constitution process, the challenges and successes in making it operational, the most important activities they had already organized, the way they are organized and the staff working with them. The topics that received the most attention were the Working Groups organized by ASAER and AMER, externally and internally respectively; coordination with the government; and the organization of events such as the Biannual Off-Grid Energy Forum or RENMOZ in Mozambique.

ALER presented the different activities planned at CPLP level, urging all the Associations to take part and inviting them to identify other joint actions that could be promoted. ALER also recalled the AMAP (Africa Mini-Grid Market Acceleration Program) project, as a result of a contract signed with the African Development Bank, which has been running since March in Angola and Mozambique, with the participation of ASAER and AMER, and whose activities in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau have recently begun. ALER also underlined its commitment to creating the conditions and supporting the creation of a National Association in Guinea-Bissau, and to promoting the operationalization of the Associations in São Tomé and Príncipe, with whom ALER has already been collaborating.

All the associations expressed their satisfaction at being able to meet and exchange views directly, as well as their interest in keeping in touch and organizing other meetings. The opportunity to share and exchange experiences provided by ALER was valued and encouraged by all.

ALER supported the creation of all the National Associations and was involved in the presentation events for AMER in 2017, ASAER in 2021 and, more recently, ACER in 2023. Since then, it has been following the Associations' work and collaborating in all the activities carried out in each country.