Africa and Europe have built an impactful partnership on energy in the last 15 years and continue to work closely together to realise access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The implications of the Russian gas crisis on African and European economies, and the need to redouble efforts to counter the negative impact of climate change, have highlighted the importance of a strong bicontinental connection. To Advance the Green Gateway Between Africa and Europe, the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) is holding its annual Forum on 7 September 2022 to discuss how to jointly achieve bicontinental energy and climate ambitions at COP27 and in the future. Realising SDG 7 in Africa, and contributing to a sustained energy transition in Europe, requires concerted efforts across a broad range of stakeholders and alignment of shared priorities on a wide scale.

The AEEP Forum will enable participants to engage on key questions on how to realise future energy systems in Africa and Europe that will allow human prosperity in a climate-compatible way. The half-day event will offer participants the opportunity to discuss alignment and convergence between Agenda 2063, the Paris Agreement and the Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative. Two parallel roundtables will explore ways to secure climate finance and facilitate African-European partnerships on natural and green gases for the energy transitions on both continents, including questions on how to further link African regional infrastructure under the Continental Power System Masterplan (CMP) and African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM).

The two continents’ collaboration on energy has shaped and supported several achievements to-date and continues to provide a strategic platform for long-term dialogue on the shared priorities of the future. In February 2022, during the sixth AU-EU Summit, African and European leaders committed to a joint vision for a renewed partnership and intensified cooperation to accelerate Africa’s green transition, inter alia in the framework of a new Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative. As Egypt prepares to host the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in November 2022, the AEEP offers a unique forum to convene important stakeholders who can help make the joint energy and climate ambitions a reality.