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Mr. Rashid Ali Abdallah, the Executive Director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC), shared his insights during the 9th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency.
“Africa, and indeed the world, must embrace sustainable energy practices. This can be achieved through building our capacity for better planning to meet our rising energy needs. Africa needs to invest in capacity-building for its people to train them in collecting and analyzing data, which is crucial for developing the right policies, especially in governing bio-energy, which comprises over 50% of the continent’s energy needs. We emphasize that access to energy is very important. Africa is well-endowed with natural gas, for example, but it is essential to ensure that this resource benefits us before allowing foreign exploitation.”
Mr. Abdallah has over 22 years of experience in the energy field at national, regional, and continental levels. Under his leadership, AFREC has developed numerous programs and initiatives to support the transformation of the African energy sector. These efforts align with the African Union Member States’ goals toward energy transition, creating policies and strategies to increase investment in the African energy sector, and meeting the AU Agenda 2063, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and global climate change commitments.
Previously, Mr. Abdallah served as the Head of the Energy Division within the Department of Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union.
He holds an M.Sc. in Project Management from Birmingham University in the UK, a Post Graduate Diploma in Energy Engineering, and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Khartoum University in Sudan.