Meeting for African Small Island Developing States: Ports and the energy transition

Leveraging the Energy Transition for Sustainable Smart Ports in African SIDS

In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, an UNCTAD-led project entitled “Sustainable smart ports for African countries” is underway to support African ports in advancing towards harnessing the potential for (i) producing, using and distributing renewable energy and (ii) energy efficiency-related technology-driven solutions.

As part of this initiative, stakeholders from the public and private sectors in African ports engaged in the interface of port operations and energy transition will convene on 23 May 2024 for a discussion about: SSP key principles and concepts, experiences and best practices, and regional dynamics in Africa, encompassing strategies, needs and challenges, and how to address these to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead for ports in African Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Objective

The meeting aims to gather representatives from African SIDS to discuss findings and results from UNCTAD's ongoing Sustainable Smart Port (SSP) assessments and explore prerequisites to advance regional collaboration for green port reforms and synergies with the Indian Ocean Commission's programme and Ministerial mandate of greening of ports.

The focus will be on African SIDS, including Maldives, Comoros, Cabo Verde, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles.

Programme

• Welcome and Opening Remarks.
• Session 1: Sustainable Smart Ports - Why? What? How?
• Session 2: Energy transition and SIDS’ ports in Africa: projects, strategies, needs, challenges and opportunities - Sharing experiences.
• Q&A discussion on key focus areas and closing remarks