South Africa
The Department of Minerals & Energy (DME) in South Africa and several of its key officials were amongst the first partners to join GVEP after its launch in 2002. South Africa was also amongst the first set of countries targeted by GVEP. However, as South Africa already has a relatively high percentage of electrification and several initiatives to contribute to universal access to safe, modern energy, the GVEP strategy has been to work with in-country experts to build on activities that are already underway. The project is intended to provide core support for initiating full-scale implementation of GVEP in South Africa, and to mobilise further partnerships and buy-in from national and international stakeholders.
After considering the matter with the UNDP Country Office, the DME decided that the first year of GVEP work in South Africa should support the Government’s integrated energy centre (IeC) programme. IeCs are so-called “one-stop energy shops”, mainly located in rural areas that the Government has identified as “poverty nodes”, and where development activities should be focused.
GVEP, along with the DME and the UNDP Country Office, then developed a national ‘Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan’ for the IeC programme that addressed problems at existing IeCs, identified objectives and key outputs, and outlined how to align the IeC programme with the new national energy strategy. This strategy included consultation and negotiation with stakeholders from multiple departments within the DME. The sustainability strategy envisaged a scale-up to 50 IeCs by 2010 and GVEP and DME also developed a roll-out plan outlining five-year implementation activities for the IeC Sustainability Strategy, which identified resources necessary for the roll-out and a timetable of targets.
Complementing the Sustainability Strategy activities, GVEP and the DME reviewed and revised business plans for the three existing IeCs—all facing ownership challenges and obstacles in turning a profit. DME has subsequently used these business plans to guide changes in the management and structure of each IeC with a focus on income generation and as a basis for stimulating interest in and investment from the private sector in future IeC scaleup.
Components of the sustainability strategy have been implemented at existing IeCs, including community education on business development around each site, establishment and training of energy entrepreneurs, and adoption of new governance and management models.
For further information on activities in country please contact Sarah Adams at sarah.adams@gvep.org.
Documents & Articles
Concept Note for South Africa
27 October, 2005,
The objective of this project is to initiate the full-scale implementation of the GVEP at the country level and mobolise further partnership and buy-in from national and international stakeholders. The project focuses on the existing network of Integrated Energy Centers(IeCs), which are located in 2 South African poverdy nodal areas and represent a rural energisation approach by the South African Government. Please click here for the full document (pdf, 1,40 mb)
GVEP South Africa: Integrated Energy Centres to Fight Poverty
12 July, 2005