AGOA and Renewable Energy

At the just concluded 8th AGOA forum in Nairobi, I gave a brief presentation on opportunities in renewable energy for African companies as well as American technology providers. I also highlighted both the challenges and risks that African companies face should they not take the initiative to address "carbon risk", energy costs and energy reliability.

With renewable energy, African companies have opportunities to use what once a handicap to their great advantage as follows:

• Monitize the carbon offsets through either CDM or the Voluntary Carbon market.
• Lower their energy costs and consequently their operating costs through captive generation.
• Improve energy reliability through control of their own generation and distribution.
• Anticipate and address the "carbon risk" to their goods when they are targeted to markets in the West.
• Position themselves as "clean" and "green" companies. An increasingly important positioning particularly to customers in the West who are demanding cleaner and greener products across entire value chains.

For African companies, adopting renewable energy is easier said than done. Lack of technical expertise and financial constraints limit the implementation of renewable energy.

This is where we can help. Renewable Energy Ventures (K) Ltd. (www.energy-kenya.com) is a renewable energy project development and advisory firm. We have established global relationships in technology and finance. We are working closely with African companies to help them identify the right technology be it solar, wind, biomass and right finance structure be it Power purchase agreement or outright ownership to help them realize the many advantage that renewable energy presents.