Accelerating Sustainable Energy for All: Africa-Europe relations post-covid and in the face of the climate emergency

In the energy industry for the past 17 years, Francesca has held a number of management positions in the sustainability and public affairs area, both in the headquarters and in a subsidiary in Kazakhstan. As from 2019, she leads the Political scenarios and institutional support for business development team in the Public Affairs Directorate. The political scenarios activity is focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia, while her expertise covers renewable energy, power and cross business initiatives. In her role, she supports Eni in identifying and developing renewable energy, power and gas-to-power initiatives. She is also responsible for fostering relations with Development Finance Institutions, in cooperation with the CFO teams.

In advising SEforALL on strategy and interventions to support universal access to energy by 2030, Olivia leverages her experience of financing renewable energy technologies from R&D through commercial deployment gained through previous roles at REEEP and the Australian government’s lead solar energy agency, and as an independent advisor to governments and investors. As a finance lawyer, Olivia has worked with Baker McKenzie in Sydney and Hong Kong, Latham & Watkins in New York and in-house at Australia’s export credit agency, Export Finance Australia. She also undertakes several board and advisory roles and a Fulbright Scholar and U.S. Department of State Climate Change Fellow.

Maximilian Jarrett has 30 years of experience in the fields of international economic affairs, media production and strategic communications. In his current role, he helps expand the International Energy Agency’s reach and coordinate its work as it deepens its engagement across the African continent. He most recently served as the final Director-in-Charge of the Geneva-based Africa Progress Panel, which was chaired by the late Kofi Annan, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former UN Secretary General. Prior to that he worked for a decade with the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa coordinating programmes and initiatives with African states as well as the African Union and African Development Bank. He is an Honorary Fellow of Murdoch University in Western Australia and also an Honorary Fellow at the Research Centre for Governance, Leadership and Global Responsibility at the Leeds Business School in the United Kingdom.

In this capacity he oversees the Bank’s lending and non-lending activities in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space including the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Desert to Power Initiative. He was previously the coordinator of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Africa Hub hosted by the AfDB in partnership with the AU, NEPAD and UNDP. Daniel also coordinated the Africa Climate Technology and Finance Center project, the Green Mini-Grid Market Development Program and the Bank’s involvement in the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund. Daniel has extensive experience in energy policy and renewable energy. Prior to joining the AfDB, he worked for several years for the European Commission in both headquarters and the field, for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and in the private sector.

Kandeh Yumkella mobilises global action and plays a leading role for the planning and implementation of ground-breaking initiatives towards a sustainable energy future. Kandeh Yumkella is a distinguished development economist and an expert in agricultural economics with over 25 years of international experience. He is actively engaging relevant stakeholders in government, businesses, academia and civil society at the highest level to advocate for and promote sustainable energy for all. As former chair of UN-Energy, he brought a renewed and vital focus to global energy issues and led the coordination of the United Nations response to energy issues. Previously, Dr. Yumkella served as Director-General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for two four-year terms. He is currently a member of the National Parliament in Sierra Leone.