Egypt and Swaziland form energy partnership

A MoD has been signed

Egypt and Swaziland have signed a memorandum of understanding which will see the two countries promote energy cooperation and exchange expertise in their respective electricity sectors.

The partnership was announced by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hassan Younis, after a meeting with Princess Tsandzile, Swaziland's Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, who was in Cairo for talks on ways in which to promote cooperation in the electricity sector.

It was reported that the talks covered areas such as technical support and renewable energy, and Egypt's expertise in the fields and how Swaziland could benefit from this.

Under the memoradum, Egypt will organize training courses for Swaziland's engineers and technicians in the electricity sector. The two countries will also work on encouraging investors to participate in energy projects under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) system, in addition to establishing joint projects to supply Swaziland's market with electrical equipment.

During her trip to Cairo, Swaziland's Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Princess Tsandzile, is also expected to inspect the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), North Cairo power station, a number of companies manufacturing electric equipment and other electricity facilities.

Renewable energy push

Last week, Power and Energy Africa reported how Egypt was aiming to diversify its energy supplies with more renewable sources of power.

Currently 99 percent of Egypt's population has access to electricity serving more than 12 million customers with reliable generation, transmission, and distribution systems, but it is hoped that the World Bank could make renewable energy more bankable, by urging governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuels and start subsidising renewable energy.

There has been a major push in North Africa recently to use more and more renewable energy, especially with projects such as Desertec gaining momentum. Morocco recently revealed plans for a giant US$9 billion solar energy project, spread across five power sites.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have also been investing heavily in the solar power sector.

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