The Deputy Secretary General Amb. Selim Kuneralp and Patrice Dreiski, Senior Expert for Outreach and Expansion attended the Tokyo International Conference for Africa Development (TICAD) meeting in Banjul, Gambia on 15-17 June 2016. TICAD is an initiative led by Japan in cooperation with the African Union Commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Office of the United Nations Special Adviser on Africa and the World Bank to mobilise the keys instruments enabling development in Africa: industrialisation, health, education, infrastructure. Energy is a cornerstone whereby "the access to the energy, the development of renewable energy, the water-energy nexus and the development of energy network" throughout Africa is at the heart of the accession process of African countries to the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
The Energy Charter has already welcomed twelve countries from the African continent and is striving to increase the participation of additional countries in the Energy Charter Process. This meeting was an opportunity for the Energy Charter Secretariat Delegation to present the added value of the International Energy Charter. The TICAD process will continue with the TICAD Summit, gathering Heads of States and Governments in Nairobi, Kenya on 27-28 August 2016.
