Introduction

The project "Energy for Poverty Alleviation in Sahel", acronym IE4SAHEL, has been a research and cooperation project on sustainable energy policies for poverty reduction in the Sahel region, developed between 2005 and 2007, co-financed by the European Union, Intelligent Energy Europe Agency, COOPENER programme and by the Fundação Ciênca e a Tecnologia of Portugal, coordinated by Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal) with the participation of the Center for Renewable Energy Sources (Greece)  and Energy for Sustainable Development Ltd (UK). More information about the partners can be found on the "Project team" page.

Access to modern energy services is a central issue for the success of poverty reduction policy. Today, access to energy, although not a specific Millennium Development Goal by its own, it is widely recognised as a cornerstone for the success of the whole MDGs strategy, as well as being a pillar of the Johannesburg Partnership for Sustainable Development. This is of particular importance in the Sahel region, that gather together some of the countries with lower Human Development Index of the World and lowest rates of access to modern energies. Sahel is also one of the most vulnerable regions of the world toward the threat of climate change and desertification that can be seriously worsened by unsustainable uses of energy. The region has started to respond to this threat with several policy initiatives aiming at designing and implementing energy policies and infrastructures adequate to provide the large part of its population with reliable, affordable and environmental friendly modern energy services, but there is still a long road ahead for the Sahelian to reach. In this context, the project IE4Sahel, provided its analysis, policy recommendations, training, networking, events to a wide range of energy stakeholders in the region, as well as supporting the EU efforts in the field of energy for poverty reduction in Africa. 

On this website all the information about the project activities, including the public deliverables, reports, newsletter and links. For any further information please contact Dr. Luis Alves lalves@ist.utl.pt or go to the "Project Team" page.

The Target Region and Partners

IE4Sahel project activities encompassed the large region of Sahel and more precisely the nine member states of the CILSS (Inter-State Commitee for the fight to drought in Sahel) Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad.

The local partner chosen for the implementation of the project is the Aghrymet Regional Centre, that is a specialised organisation of CILSS.

Main Activities performed

The project completed all the deliverables and the work planned in all the work packages and set also the basis for its sustainability and its long lasting effect. In particular the project has achieved the following results:

Research Activities:

The research activities have been the base for networking and cooperation activities described in the following point. The following documents have been elaborated and are available on the section "Deliverables" on the website.

• Analysis of current energy policies and regulations
• Assessment of Potential Energy sources in Sahel
• Preparation of a Handbook on Sustainable Energy in Sahel
• Preparation of an Agenda with the most important issues related to energy policy and regulation in Sahel

Cooperation and Networking Activities:

Cooperation and networking activities have played a crucial role in the life of the project. Here follows the principal activities carried on by the project consortium. For more information go to the "Events" page of the website

• Inventory of Energy Stakeholders and key actors
• Organisation of a Special Event at the CILLS Ministerial Conference held in Bissau, Guinea Bissau, 29 March 2006.
• Organisation of a training workshop at Aghrymet Centre, Niamey, Niger, between 2-6 October 2006.
• Organisation of a Ministerial Conference "Energy and Poverty Reduction in Sahel", Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 29-31 May 2007.
• Participation to various Common Dissemination initiatives.
• Setting up and updated of the Website of the project as a platform fro the project documents distribution.
• Compilation of 12 newsletters of the project.
• Participation in two COOPENER CONTRACTOR’s meetings (6 & 7/12/05 Brussels and 6 & 7/03/07 Berlin). These meetings were a good opportunity to exchange opinions and experiences with the other COOPENER PROJECT participants from EU and AFRICAN countries.