Africa-Press – Mauritius. Participants who followed training on entrepreneurship and basics of photovoltaic under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Green Climate Fund (GCF) project “Accelerating the Transformational Shift to a Low Carbon Economy in the Republic of Mauritius” were awarded certificates, yesterday, during a ceremony held at Le Labourdonnais Hotel, Port Louis.
The Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr Georges Pierre Lesjongard; the Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah; and the UNDP Resident Representative, Mrs Amanda Serumaga, were present.
The spouse of the Prime Minister, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth, was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. In his address, Minister Lesjongard dwelt on the impacts of climate change and observed that climate change is worsening and weather events are becoming more severe and more frequent.
Renewable energy (RE) is key to fighting climate change and is one of the most effective tools we have in the fight against global warming, he said. He recalled that the vision of Government is to transform Mauritius into a model of sustainable development.
He further underlined that last year’s Budget made provision for various measures aimed at producing more RE so as to make the sector a pillar of our economy.
In that context, the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities is working in collaboration with different stakeholders to achieve the set targets, he added.
He also appealed to the population for a change of mindset and to be more mindful about environment protection, energy saving, climate change, and RE and to adopt ways on how to save energy.
Mr Lesjongard highlighted that Government is creating more opportunities for the youth in RE, especially young girls, to enable them to pursue their studies in science and engineering, to set up their own green enterprise, and to use RE in their businesses.
Speaking about the training course, he expressed satisfaction that it has been designed to help participants understand how energy can be harnessed using RE in their enterprises.
They were also informed of the different schemes available in Mauritius to acquire solar PV technology; as well as the different energy jobs, skills required, and training schemes available.
For her part, Minister Koonjoo-Shah dwelt on the vulnerability of women and girls to climate change and highlighted that they can be active and effective agents and promoters of adaptation and mitigation. She rejoiced that the training sessions have helped not only in empowering women but have also familiarised them on the advantages of using RE.
The main objective of the training, she underlined, was to provide participants employed or running micro/ small enterprises an entry level understanding of entrepreneurial skills and an overview on the technical requirements for the installation, operation and maintenance of solar PV systems.
These trainings enabled participants to have a practical understanding of entrepreneurship and a better understanding of RE and identify the different types of RE sources, she added.
Also present, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mrs Amanda Serumaga, recalled that as at date in Mauritius, only 24% of electricity is generated by RE and attaining the 60% target has become all the more urgent, she said.
She underlined that the need to integrate more and more renewable energy in the electrical energy mix has long been recognised by the Government and streamlined in relevant national policies.
She recalled that the UNDP is assisting the Government in the implementation of the GCF “Accelerating the transformational shift to a low-carbon economy in the Republic of Mauritius” project.
The USD 28 million grant (coupled with more than USD 162 million of co-financing), she pointed out, is assisting the Government of Mauritius to meet its target of using renewables to supply 40 % of the country’s energy needs by 2030 through technical interventions on the electricity grid.
This is part of a broad national strategy to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, to enhance energy security and climate change mitigation, democratise access to clean and affordable energy, and to improve the country’s balance of payments, she said.
In her address as Chief Guest, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth, appealed to women entrepreneurs to familiarise themselves with the advantages of RE since the future lies in clean energy.
She stated that clean energy development is vital for combating climate change and limiting its most devastating effects. According to her, the transition to an energy system based on renewable technologies will have very positive economic consequences on the global economy and on development.
In Mauritius, she said that Government has set as target to achieve 60% of RE before the next 10 years with the view to drive forward the sustainability agenda.
She underlined the need to introduce RE in the school curriculum adding that over the years, 3,500 jobs are expected to be created in the RE field. The training
The syllabus for the 18-hour training was prepared by the MITD and finalised with a team comprising technical officers from the MITD, MEPU, MARENA, and CEB. The training cost was also supported by the Clinton Climate Initiative under the Clinton Foundation.
Selection was carried out from institutions working with women and youth entrepreneurs such as the National Women Council, National Women Entrepreneur Council, Youth Council, National Empowerment Foundation, and the Social Welfare Centres through the Division of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare. Trainings were run on Saturdays starting 03 October 2020. Overall, 192 participants have been trained.
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