AFRICAN, LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN MINISTERS OF ENERGY EXPRESS THEIR COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP POLICIES ON ENERGY COOPERATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Energy Ministers and Secretaries of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting in Cancun, Mexico on the occasion of AFROLAC II, expressed their will to promote broader cooperation in energy between both regions with the aim to achieve sustainable energy development.

This decision pointed out in the Declaration of Cancun states that the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) and the African Energy Commission (AFREC) should establish a Working Plan for the period 2009-2019 by December 31, 2008.

Other commitments established by the Ministers in the Declaration of Cancun are:

• The necessity of accelerating universal access to electricity in rural and urban populations, seeking to use sustainable energy resources; 
•  The importance of promoting the use of biofuels, without affecting the security of the nations’ food supply;
• The importance of regional, sub-regional and intercontinental energy policies to enhance energy trade among the countries of both regions;
• The necessity to intensify energy efficiency efforts and promote industrial and domestic technologies that are capable of reducing the energy consumption rates in both regions, and
• The importance of taking advantage of the experiences and technologies developed by our countries through technical information sharing mechanisms led by OLADE and AFREC so that these mechanisms establish information systems as well as training programs.

The Ministers congratulated and thanked the venue, the government of Mexico, for its hospitality, attentions and welcoming, and OLADE and AFREC for the successful organization of AFROLAC II. Moreover, they announced the decision to hold AFROLAC III in Nigeria in 2010.

See Cancun Declaration (available only in spanish)