BRILHO Programme celebrates progress and welcomes Sida as a new donor during recent energy access event

SNV, within the BRILHO Energy Africa Mozambique programme's scope, held an event entitled "Accelerating Access to Off-Grid Renewable Energy" on 26 November 2021. The event celebrated the programme's progress in reaching over 300,000 Mozambicans with sustainable energy and announced Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency as the programme's new donor.

During the event, the programme partners formalised a cooperation agreement with Sida. The organisation was introduced as a new funder, thus joining the current funder - UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Also, all 15 companies participating in the BRILHO programme had an opportunity to showcase their off-grid energy products at the event.

The BRILHO programme has supported until October 2021 the deployment of 53,498 solar home systems and 7,706 improved cooking solutions. More than 306,000 Mozambicans across all provinces have gained access to energy. More than 5,000 small businesses have access to energy for productive use and the production of carbon emissions has been reduced by 63,000 tons.

In terms of systems change, BRILHO was an integral part of developing the recent off-grid energy regulation that the government of Mozambique approved in September 2021, paving the way for new companies to enter the market.

The programme will build on these successes with the additional support provided by the Government of Sweden. Now it aims to facilitate a total of 920,000 people with access to electrification solutions, 975,000 with access to improved cooking solutions and 17,000 MSMEs with access to energy for productive use. In addition to mobilising approximately £24.6 million in private financing by October 2024.

Attendees at the event.

The Government of Mozambique attended the session represented by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Also, in attendance were ARENE's and FUNAE's Chairpersons of the Board of Directors. All welcomed the progress made and reaffirmed the government's commitment to achieving the goal of universal energy access by 2030.

Antonio Saide, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FUNAE acknowledged that 'The commitment and efforts of the Government of Mozambique are focused on creating favourable conditions for developing an inclusive and competitive off-grid energy market. This will in turn contribute to strengthening the economic inclusion of communities. The results achieved and the progress made by the BRILHO programme represents a great sign of the acceleration of the off-grid energy market and its great potential.'

Sérgio Dista, Private Sector Development Advisor to the British High Commission in Maputo said, 'The United Kingdom is delighted with the progress achieved in implementing the BRILHO programme that aims to pursue the objectives of the Government of Mozambique in relation to energy for all. We also recognise that while there are significant results, we still have a lot of work to do to encourage various partners and stakeholders in the sector to join forces.'

Charles Chidamba, Programme Officer, Energy from Sida stated, 'Sweden strongly supports increased access to carbon-free renewable energy and pursues the green growth strategy fostering economic growth and sustainable development. We are happy to be supporting the BRILHO initiative in stimulating private sector investments in challenging and underserved communities in Mozambique.'

Javier Ayala, BRILHO Team Leader and SNV Mozambique Sector Leader for Energy, said, 'SNV welcomes our new partner Sida to the programme. We are excited that we will be able to build on our current success with this additional support. We are grateful for the confidence shown by all partners and reaffirm our commitment to contribute to the development of the Off-Grid energy market in Mozambique.'

To learn more about the BRILHO programme, visit the project website here or check out the following short video.