Energy Minister Holds Series of Meetings on Sidelines of IRENA General Assembly

Abu Dhabi – Minister of Energy, Mining and Sustainable Development, Aziz Rabbah, held a series of meetings in Abu Dhabi with government officials responsible for the energy sector and representatives of regional and international bodies attending the 9th General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

The discussions focused in particular on ways to strengthen cooperation and develop relations with brotherly and friendly countries, especially in the field of renewable energy, in addition to consolidating international cooperation, which becomes a necessity given the challenges of climate change and energy transformation.

In this regard, Rabbah had a meeting with US assistant secretary of State for Energy Resources, Francis Fannon, during which both sides discussed cooperation between Morocco and the United States in the field of energy and the promotion of US investments in the Kingdom, as well as capacity building and technical assistance through the bodies in charge of the energy sector.

The minister of Energy, Mining and Sustainable Development also met with UAE minister of State, director-general and CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Sultan bin Ahmad Al Jaber.

The talks tackled the promotion of Emirati investments in Morocco in the field of energy.

In this sense, the two sides discussed the support of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company for the Kingdom’s efforts to strengthen the electrification of rural areas, notably cooperation between the Emirati Company and the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) in 2018 to provide 19438 homes with solar energy in 1000 Moroccan villages.

Rabbah also held talks with director-general of energy at the German Federal ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, Thorsten Herdan, focusing on bilateral cooperation in energy efficiency.

At the continental level, the minister met with vice president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), in charge of energy affairs, Amadou Hott.

During this meeting, the two officials discussed the AfDB’s support to Morocco for the assessment of public and private sector companies working in the energy sector and the search for an innovative partnership to develop infrastructure, in addition to the Bank’s support for the establishment of a center of excellence in the field of renewable energy.

Furthermore, Rabbah met with executive director of the African Energy Commission Rachi Ali Abdellah, with whom he discussed ways to establish a partnership with the Commission, particularly in terms of capacity building.