EDF partnership at the 2020 Africa-France Summit
The General Secretariat is pleased to announce that EDF is the first energy provider to become a strategic partner of the 2020 Africa-France Summit. With over 50 years of operations in Africa, EDF is committed alongside its customers to providing them with the power that can change everything.
In African cities and villages, EDF rolls out innovative solutions to speed up their sustainable development and make community life more inclusive and attractive to millions of inhabitants. On 4 June, at the Summit’s City of Solutions, you can meet with EDF teams who strive to think outside the box every day to offer solutions to urbanization in Africa.
Find out more about EDF in Africa below: Valérie Levkov, Senior Vice-President Africa, Middle East and East Mediterranean, answers three questions for the General Secretariat.
” In Africa, we operate across the entire energy value chain, from generation to distribution to African households in rural environments, and we aim to always offer innovative, low-carbon solutions. They may be hydraulic, for example with the Nachtigal dam in Cameroon, or using biomass, which is the case for the Biovéa plant project in Côte d’Ivoire. The projects we develop go beyond simple power generation. We would like to ensure the people concerned benefit from all the resulting effects of these infrastructures, by installing them permanently in the regions. High quality project support is therefore extremely important to us, for example by encouraging the creation of new economic activities. Secondly, we strive to strengthen the energy performance of African cities and industry, with an entire range of energy efficiency solutions and self-supply projects.
All of our actions are underpinned by two strong beliefs. First, the cheapest, cleanest energy is the energy we don’t use. To that end, we are marketing solutions to boost energy efficiency in buildings and thereby reduce CO2 emissions. Secondly, we see electricity as the number one factor of economic development for the continent. Without energy, there can be no sustainable growth. We have connected more than 500,000 residents to an electricity supply, with off-grid solutions like solar kits and mini-grids. And we plan to go further. By 2022, we will connect at least three million residents on the African continent to an energy supply, with solutions tailored to everyone and based on innovative partnerships.”
” Urban growth in Africa will continue to accelerate. In 2050, 7 out of 10 people will live in a city. At the same time, half of all city dwellers currently live in temporary housing. We therefore believe that it is urgent that millions of Africans gain access to more permanent housing, while African urbanization needs a new perspective. We are also very committed to African villages, which continue to be the living environments of many residents.
EDF wants to support the development of both cities and villages, to make them more inclusive. My wish is for those places to become attractive places for everyone to work, learn and grow up in. EDF’s solutions provide practical responses: improving street lighting, energy efficiency, supporting the development of new ways of getting around the city, and better waste recovery. For all of these solutions, we aim for a partnership approach, with a focus on innovation and ensuring women play an active role.”
“I am delighted that we are a strategic partner of the 2020 Africa-France Summit. For all of the EDF teams working in Africa, it is also an opportunity to highlight our expertise and our commitments to the continent. Throughout the Summit, and in particular at the City of Solutions, we will share our convictions and meet participants so we can demonstrate that in Africa, too, we can provide the power to change everything. Looking forward to seeing you in Bordeaux on 4 June !”
