23 of February 2016

Organizers of the 1st International Fair of Environment and Renewable Energy make a positive appraisal

FIAER closed on February 13th with an overall positive assessment of the majority of operators and visitors who attended the event.
 

During three days near a hundred entrepreneurs, institutions and professionals exchanged experiences and ideas about the market and environment and renewable energy technologies in order to build partnerships and make business.
 

There were more than 40 exhibitors, 25 national and 15 foreign, coming from Portugal, Spain, Angola and Sao Tome and Principe, among others. Delegations from ECOWAS had a strong presence, namely Senegal and Guinea Bissau, which was represented by the Minister of Energy, Wasna Papai Danfá.
 

In his opening remarks, José Maria Neves, Prime-Minister of Cabo Verde, highlighted the country’s renewable energy path and the strong commitment of his Government in this sector, stressing that despite having no "oil" or "diamonds" the country has natural resources of the future, sun, sea and wind and that currently "we have 400% renewables production in relation to the country's needs.” Therefore, as he advocated, it is necessary to invest in sustainable management and make better use of clean energy in Cape Verde and share the experience with other countries in the sub-region, through training, among others. "We want to train 100 specialists in renewable energy," he said.

 

The Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Business Development (MTIDE), Leonesa Fortes, stressed that the clean energy sector has been showing "dynamism" and raising more and more "interest" and that it is necessary to continue to boost the sector and transform Cape Verde in a services square. "We are finishing a set of rules and regulations to make the sector more efficient so that we can also provide services in the area of ​​renewable energy in ECOWAS," added the Minister.
 

Finally the President of CCISS, Jorge Spencer Lima, the entity that organized this first international fair in partnership with MTIDE, MAHOT, CERMI and ECREEE, highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships in the sector. Spencer Lima stressed that it is important to "put face to face" development partners of the two areas, "environment and renewable energy," in a way that they can "seek solutions to the problems affecting our countries, in the energy field, one of the most expensive production factors in Cape Verde, but also scarce and low penetration in other African countries. "