Video statement by Mr. Claver Gatete at the 14th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development

UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL COMMISSIONS & MINISTRY OF ENERGY, MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES, NORTH MACEDONIA

14TH INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Theme:

"From Goals to Action: Powering the Future with Sustainable Energy"

Video Statement

By

Mr. Claver Gatete

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and

Executive Secretary of ECA

Skopje, North Macedonia

28 October 2025

Excellencies,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure to join you for the Fourteenth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development under the inspiring theme: "From Goals to Action: Powering the Future with Sustainable Energy."

I thank the Government of North Macedonia and our United Nations Regional Commissions for hosting this important gathering.

Indeed, we meet at a decisive moment for our planet.

Less than five years remain before 2030 - the horizon for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Yet, progress on SDG 7 - ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all - remains painfully uneven.

Across Africa, around 600 million people still live without electricity, a stark reminder of the deep energy divide that continues to hinder our continent's development.

Can we truly speak of global progress when millions of African children continue to study by candlelight, when health centres still operate without power and when women cook with firewood?

The question, therefore, is not whether the energy transition will happen but how, and on whose terms.

For Africa, the transition must be just.

It is not right that a continent rich in sunlight, wind, water and critical minerals should be energy poor.

The energy transition must power development, create jobs and deliver dignity.

It must light homes but also power industries and transform economies.

At the Economic Commission for Africa, we see four strategic accelerators that can help make this vision real.

First, Africa must harness its critical minerals to drive a just and homegrown energy transition.

Our continent holds more than 30% of global reserves of lithium, cobalt, manganese and other minerals vital for clean technologies.

But too often these resources are exported in raw form, taking with them the jobs and value that should stay in Africa.

Through the African Green Minerals Strategy, we are supporting our countries to move from extraction to beneficiation, from exporting raw materials to producing battery components, solar panels and electric vehicles, right here in Africa.

This way, we turn mineral wealth into industrialization, jobs and opportunity, while supporting the world's decarbonization goals.

Second, we must strengthen regulatory frameworks to attract private sector investment across the electricity value chain.

When policies are clear and predictable, investors respond.

And when markets are transparent, innovation thrives.

As we reform regulation, expand grid infrastructure and enable on and off-grid solutions, African nations can transform their abundant renewable resources into reliable power.

And the examples are already there from Kenya's geothermal breakthroughs to Morocco's solar programmes which show that policy clarity and investment-confidence go hand-in-hand.

Third, we must step up innovation in rural electrification.

Energy must do more than light homes; it must power farms, run agro-processing, create local industries and expand livelihoods in rural communities.

To achieve this, we need financing models that blends concessional and private capital, strengthen local banks and empowers communities to own and control their energy future.

Finally, we must deepen global partnerships.

No region can achieve SDG 7 alone.

We therefore call for stronger collaboration to accelerate access to clean cooking and electricity, to de-risk investments, and ensure that climate finance flows at the scale and cost Africa requires.

Across the continent, the cost of capital remains multiple times higher than in developed economies - a barrier that must no longer determine who transitions first and who transitions last.

Partnerships, whether North-South, South-South, or within Africa, must deliver real investment, technology transfer and skills to drive industrialization and secure a just, inclusive transition for all.

Excellencies,

This Forum offers us a potent opportunity to dialogue productively on these vital issues.

And I look forward to the insights and outcomes that will contribute to accelerating action to meet SDG7 goals and enable an inclusive energy transition.

I thank you and wish you fruitful deliberations.