n Rwenzori Convention Halln
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08:30 – 10:30 |
Policy Advocacy: A spotlight on the development partners’ interventions |
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Climate change threats coupled with energy poverty continue to endanger livelihoods in the global South. This panel session will constitute of country representatives of the different development partner organizations discussing ways to address the current energy crisis and the long-term pathways to transition away from fossil fuels in emerging economies. The discussion will focus on the collaborative efforts of development partners in advancing Uganda’s energy sector. Key topics of discussion will include joint initiatives and projects in the renewable energy sector, lessons learned and best practices from ongoing projects and strategies for enhancing the impact of development cooperation in Uganda. Session Chair: Hon. Shartsi Musherure, Member of Parliament, Mawogola North Constituency Discussants:
Partner: British High Commission |
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10:30 – 13:00 |
A Sincere Discourse on Energy Access and Affordability: Government’s Perspective |
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The government is responsible for setting the policy for the energy sector and proposing any changes to this statutory framework. Its clear role is to support policy issues such as decarbonisation and operate within this framework. Where there are important policy gaps that affect consumers, the government comes through to address them. The government continually seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its approach. This includes setting out the costs and benefits, as well as the social and environmental impacts, of all major decisions. It regulates only where necessary to protect consumers’ interests and carefully considers whether any regulatory requirement proposes is proportionate and to ensure market stability and affordability of products and services by the populace. It also carries out investigations into company behaviour once believed to have breached a condition of their licence, or the requirements of consumer protection, or competition legislation. This same will bring together government representatives from key ministries regulating the energy sector activities to discuss government’s policies and strategies supporting clean energy access and affordability across the country. Session Chair: Julius Magala, Energy Access Coordinator, UNCDF Discussants:
Partner: |
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13:00- 14:00 |
Lunch Break |
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Restaurant & Exhibition Area
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14:00- 15:30 |
High-Level Energy Transition Discourse |
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This session will bring together representatives from different foreign missions working to accelerate energy transition. The session will serve as a call to action to develop initiatives to advance energy transition. Discussion will focus on the strategic direction of international support in Uganda’s energy sector, focusing on policy alignment, funding mechanisms, and collaborative efforts to drive the country’s clean energy transition Session Chair: Eng. Irene Pauline Bateebe, Permanent Secretary, MEMD Discussants:
Partner: European Union Delegation |
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15:30- 17:00 |
Official Opening Ceremony |
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Opening Remarks
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Session Chair: Hon. Daudi Migereko, Former Minister, GOU Speakers:
Partner: British High Commission |
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17:00 – Onwards |
Exhibition Guided Tour and Cocktail |
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Exhibition Area Cocktail Area |
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n Kabalega Halln
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| 08:30 – 17:00 | District Local Government Sub-Regional Forum |
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Energy Mainstreaming, the planning and budgeting for and coordination of clean energy in the various sectors at Central and Local Government levels, is crucial for the success of increasing access to clean energy. For the last 10 years, the Sub-Regional Energy Forums have taken place usually twice a year to foster good coordination between the governmental levels, bring together various stakeholders and promote the decentralisation of the energy sector. This year’s Sub-Regional Energy Forum will be hosted again during the REC23 and welcomes District Energy Focal Persons and District Planners from 23 District Local Governments, as well as Officials from Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and Ministry of Local Government. Attendance is by invitation only. Partner: GIZ |
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n Kidepo Halln
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| 08:30 – 13:00 | Celebrating UK-Ugandan Collaborations in Energy Access |
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Energy Catalyst Session |
Uganda has goals of reaching universal energy access by 2030 and could be able to reach netzero by 2065 (IEA, 2023). Achieving net zero emissions by 2065 would require reaching USD 8 billion in annual clean energy investments in Uganda by the end of the decade, with almost 90% of this financing directed towards projects focused on improving energy access and expanding clean energy capacity, according to the IEA’s analysis. Energy Catalyst accelerates the innovation needed to realise a just and inclusive clean energy transition across Africa, Asia, and Indo-Pacific communities. Energy Catalyst funds the critical innovation needed to create jobs, spur economic growth, and drive an inclusive clean energy transition. To date, Energy Catalyst has funded 18 projects focused on Uganda, totalling to over £7.4 millions of grant funding awarded. 9 of these projects followed ongoing UK-Ugandan collaboration, including an Energy Catalyst Brokerage Event in 2022 which brought 12 UK based organisations to Uganda to build collaborations ahead of Energy Catalyst Round 10 funding. This session will be a celebration of Energy Catalyst projects past and present, as well as an opportunity to continue the conversation on UK-Ugandan collaboration in the energy sector through panel sessions, case studies, and networking. Session Chair: Amy Flynn, Programme Coordinator – Energy Access, Innovate UK Discussants:
Partner: British High Commission |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| Restaurant & Exhibition Area | |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | A Youth Dialogue on Clean Energy and Sustainable Environment |
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Young people will be the most affected by the climate crisis and need the knowledge and skills to tackle it. This youth dialogues provides a platform for young people to discuss clean energy and sustainable environment in the climate change threats. Taking part in this session will allow young people, particularly the students to reflect more deeply on the link between climate learning and climate action. The dialogues will focus on how young people perceive clean energy and climate action, how it affects their lives, and what actions they prioritize in their own contexts. Session Chair: Edwin Muhumuza, CEO, Youth Go Green Discussants:
Partner: Youth Go Green |
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| 15:30 – 17:00 | Energy Knowledge for Millennials in Building a Golden Uganda |
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Schools have initiated skilling of learners about renewable energy and its benefits. The renewable energy skilling initiatives seek to empower and provide learners with a solid understanding of various renewable energy sources. By introducing innovative educational programmes and practical demonstrations, the initiatives aim to inspire the next generation to embrace sustainable energy solutions and raise awareness about environmental challenges and the importance of adopting sustainable energy practices within the school and the broader community. Also, intend to prepare the future generation to be advocates for a sustainable future. This session will bring together learners from different schools to discuss and debate renewable energy, energy transition and climate change, and suggest options to advance their awareness, advocacy, and adoption. Session Chair: XXXX Discussants:
Partner: Youth Go Green |
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n Bunyonyi Halln
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| 08:30 – 10:30 | Financing women and youth energy entrepreneurs and innovators |
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Women and youth continue to be underrepresented as entrepreneurs in the Energy Community Contracting Parties, particularly across energy economies. They are disproportionately affected by major challenges of entering entrepreneurship. Closing these gaps can significantly increase the region’s growth prospects, as research around the world has shown. As we stand on the cusp of the energy transition, there is a vast potential to create new entrepreneurial opportunities. Thus, it is imperative to address existing challenges now. From structural barriers to financial constraints, technical complexities, and beyond, this session will underscore the urgent need to cultivate an enabling environment that empowers women and youth entrepreneurs to lead in this dynamic industry. Session Chair: Elizabeth Kasenene, Executive Director, RENTICO Discussants:
Partner: RENTICO |
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| 10:30 – 13:00 | Nature and Energy: In the voice of Civil Society Organizations |
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Natural resources underpin economies world over, through resources like water, food security, sustainable charcoal and wildlife habitat. Nature also serves as a bridge to a clean energy future, providing critical carbon sequestration and storage. How do we capitalize on the need for our natural world to support our planet, while continuing to ensure our forests and agricultural lands provide for people as well? The session aims at showcasing the critical role of civil society in shaping the global energy agenda and implementation of commitments and pledges under SDG7 with a bias on women and youth. This discussion will explore the range of natural climate solutions and present a menu of policy options and best practices that can be employed to meet the challenges and opportunities at hand. Session Chair: Richard Kimbowa, Chairman, INFORSE & CSOs Network Uganda Discussants:
Partner: CSOs Network |
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| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| Restaurant & Exhibition Area | |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | |
| WE4D Side Event | Under Development … |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | |
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n Bujagali Halln
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| 08:30 – 10:30 | Watering the Clean Energy Transition |
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The need to value water has never been greater. Water scarcity currently affects almost one billion people living in urban areas. Increased demand, coupled with depleted supplies, could mean this figure will double by 2050. And as water is highly location-specific, the impact will be greater in certain hotspots. Water plays an important role in the global energy transition required to achieve the 1.5-degree temperature goal. Wind and solar farms are less water-intensive than fossil fuels, but the world is relying on these technologies to massively expand over the coming decades. Also, green hydrogen is a new and vaunted clean energy source but with much greater water impacts. The growth in clean energy needs to be carefully managed if we are to avoid unsustainable pressures on local water sources. This session will highlight how clean energy policies and planning can consider water availability to reduce water and energy risks as well as promote synergistic solutions, with a focus on national climate planning. As part of the session, the Water-Energy-Climate synergies and agrivoltaics will be discussed and a call to action on water, energy, and climate by the discussants for actors willing to work together on these issues will be taken. Session Chair: Arthur Makara, Technology and Innovation Advancement and Outreach Discussants:
Partner: MEMD, MAAIF, MWE |
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| 10:30 – 13:00 | Partnerships for clean energy access |
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Since 2012, over 493 million people have gained energy access from off-grid solar products. Yet despite this incredible achievement, the world is still not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 —universal energy access— by 2030. The biggest shortfall will be in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where nearly 600 million people are projected to still be living without electricity in 2030 – forcing hundreds of millions to continue to rely on polluting, expensive, and hazardous lighting and energy sources. Through partnerships, we can move faster by leveraging each other’s strengths – if we don’t, we risk a fragmented, ad-hoc approach with marginal impact. Together, we can leverage the collective experience and track record of market leaders, and reach those regions and customers at risk of being left behind in the clean energy transition. This session will bring together development partners to discuss prioritized approaches for fast-tracking universal energy access in Uganda. Session Chair: Dr. Frank Bunnya Ssebowa, Senior Adviser, UOMA Discussants:
Partner: |
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| 13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| Restaurant & Exhibition Area | |
| 14:00 – 17:00 | Capacity Building and Financial Readiness for Energy Companies |
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Under Development … Session Chair: Bernard Mbaine, CEO, UNREEEA Discussants:
Partner: UNREEEA |
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n Kibale Halln
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| 08:30 – 10:30 | Sustainable Solid Biomass Fuels in Clean Cooking Transition |
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Under Development … Session Chair: Zainabu Kakunguru, Programme Officer- Capacity Development, FAO Discussants:
Partner: FAO |
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| 10:30 – 13:00 | Energizing refugee settings and host communities |
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In remote host communities, people often rely on harmful energy sources for their daily needs, such as charcoal, wood, kerosene, and diesel generators. Humanitarian organisations frequently overlook energy access, and when they do address it, there is a tendency to rely on low-quality freely distributed products. Access to energy is essential if we are to provide the most vulnerable populations with electricity, sustainable cooking technologies, clean water, and economic opportunities. The Sustainable Energy Response Plan (SERP) for Refugees and Host Communities complements the holistic approach of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and sets a precedent by integrating refugees into national energy planning, thereby emphasising the importance of energy access for an effective response within the Humanitarian, Development and Peace Nexus. This session will explore how to build energy markets that reach the bottom of the pyramid with life changing energy products and services, drawing from first-hand experiences in humanitarian and other last-mile contexts. The discussion will interest anyone keen to work in partnership to collectively ramp-up sustainable energy access in the hardest-to-reach communities. Discussions will also cover financing mechanisms for de-risking and incentivizing private sector supply value chains, and demand side subsidies. Session Chair: Pauline Cyiza, Project Manager, Ayuda en Accion Discussants:
Partner: FAO |
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| 14:00 – 15:30 | Cooking Transition: Evidence from Institutional Clean Cooking |
| Life Changer Session |
Households and institutions in Uganda, like in many sub-Saharan African countries, rely heavily on fuel wood and charcoal burned in traditional devices for cooking and heating. Burning these fuels causes pollution that can damage health and contribute to climate change. Moreover, when harvested unsustainably, wood fuel consumption causes forest degradation and other environmental damage. To reduce these impacts, the government of Uganda hopes to scale up cleaner cooking options like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electric appliances, ethanol and biogas. This session will bring together promoters and users of institutional clean cooking systems to share lessons learned, challenges encountered, benefits and opportunities so far identified. Session Chair: Justine Akumu, Energy Officer, MEMD Discussants:
Partner: |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | Clean Cooking Subsidies: A private Sector Experience |
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The use of subsidies by development finance institutions (DFIs) can often be controversial because of their ability to distort markets. It is vital to ensure that the subsidy is used efficiently, the level of subsidy is appropriate (provides value for money) and market distortion is minimized. It is instructive therefore to examine the practical approaches/frameworks that there are for effectively delivering subsidy to private sector entities for development purposes. This session will constitute of private sector actors discussing subsidies and their impacts on their businesses as well as their preferences in designing subsidies by DFIs. Session Chair: Judith Nabimanya, Department of Investment for Sustainable Development, SEATINI Uganda Discussants:
Partner: USEA, UNACC |
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n Bwindi Halln
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| 10:00 – 13:00 | Donor Group Closed Door Meeting |
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This closed-door discussion will bring together Heads of Foreign Missions to take stock of their support to Uganda’s energy transition as well as affirm their commitment going forward, sharing lessons learnt, challenges and remedy mechanisms established. As on output of the session, a position paper will be prepared and will be read and shared with the REC24 & Expo participants during the closing session of the event. The meeting will be attended by Ambassadors, Ministers, Permanent Secretary, Coordinators of Sustainable Energy Development Programme and Heads of Development Partner Organizations. The discussions will Centre on the importance of donor organizations in the sustainable development of energy and as well as the need to ensure exchange of information between donors and the governments on the needs and opportunities for energy investments. The Meeting will discuss the framework for coordination with donors, international financial institutions and international organizations, a key ingredient to boosting aid effectiveness and developing capacities in Uganda. Attendance by invite only |
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| 14:00 – 17:00 | NREP/Off-Grid Energy Working Group Steering Committee Meeting |
| Off-Grid Session |
The Off-Grid Energy Working Group, operating under the National Renewable Energy Platform (NREP), serves as a central hub for the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and information related to off-grid energy solutions. It also monitors key regulatory and policy developments to ensure alignment with sector growth. This Steering Committee Meeting will review the progress of various undertaken and ongoing activities while addressing challenges encountered along the way. The session will bring together key actors in the off-grid energy sector, showcasing both government and sector support for the off-grid access agenda. It will also identify critical priorities and potential partnerships for the task force. Brief presentations will be made by the five subcommittees, which cover Productive Use of Energy, Mini-Grids, Bioenergy, and Finance and Fiscal Incentives. Representatives from the Embassies of Sweden, Denmark, and NEFCO, as well as partners like GIZ, USAID, MECS, KfW, will be in attendance. This session represents a collaborative effort to drive innovation and progress in the off-grid energy sector. Session Chair: Alexander Akena, Institution Expert, Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa Discussants: Partner: NIRAS, BGFA |
