Over the past months, energy ministries of several Sub-Saharan countries have seconded experts to the Secretariat under this programme: Mr. Anucêncio Bouene from Mozambique, Mr. John Kitonga from Tanzania, and Mr. Mohamed Cheikhna from Mauritania. The aim of the programme is to promote an investment-friendly regulatory environment in African countries on the basis of the principles set out in the International Energy Charter, a political declaration to be adopted on 20 May 2015, and the Energy Charter Treaty. The ultimate objective is that African countries, along with countries across the world, may share a common approach to the fast-changing global energy sector.

The programme is supported by the European Commission – DG for International Cooperation and Development through the EU Technical Assistance Facility. The secondment of experts is endorsed by the Ministers of Energy of the beneficiary countries. During their time at the Energy Charter Secretariat, secondees draft assessment reports of their respective national energy sectors under the supervision of Secretariat Experts. The assessments are carried out against the universal principles of the International Energy Charter and the Energy Charter Treaty: national sovereignty, access to open markets and free trade, environmental protection, energy security and universal access to energy, regional integration and international relations, investment promotion and protection, and transfer of technology. The assessment reports will be published and will serve as the basis for further dialogue and cooperation between the Energy Charter and African countries.

Within this capacity building programme, energy officials from Mauritania and Nigeria attended the Rabat Energy Charter Forum on 25 February 2015 in Morocco, where they presented their respective national energy sectors from a national and international perspective. Furthermore, as part of the same programme, the Tanzanian secondee Mr. John Kitonga and Dr. Ernesto Bonafé, an expert of the Energy Charter Secretariat, travelled to Kigali, Rwanda, to speak at the 7th East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition and to hold bilateral meetings with senior energy officials from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Considering the need for substantial energy investments and the need to send a clear signal to the international community about the commitment to regulatory stability and predictability, Tanzania has recently expressed its intention to adopt the International Energy Charter at the Ministerial Conference on 20-21 May 2015 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Other African countries are expected to follow Tanzania’s move. The International Energy Charter will be an important step forward to mobilise private investments and build trust in an increasingly global and interdependent energy sector.