ADDIS ABABA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) says it will continue to play its role to promote the economic and social development of its member states.
To this end, the UNECA says, efforts will be made through training and different programs that equip member states with knowledge and capacity to transform their economies by addressing their development challenges.
This came at the conclusion of a course on energy demand and supply training for east African energy experts, which has been hosted by UNECA in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, according to a statement from the Commission on Thursday.
The training aims to strengthen the sub-region's technical capacity in energy demand, supply planning and management, and allow the experts to respond to current energy planning gaps; integrate energy sector planning tools in sector planning.
With the attendance of 14 experts from different countries in the sub-region, the course, which also included discussions on energy balance statistics development, allows them to acquire knowledge on undertaking energy demand and supply analyses and balance management.
In his closing remarks, UNECA Special Adviser, Joe Atta-Mensah, said that UNECA would continue to play its role to promote the economic and social development of its member states through such training and other programs.
"The ECA had received numerous capacity development requests from member states in Eastern Africa and this vital training is being held in response to help strengthen the institutional energy sector planning capacity in the region," said Atta-Mensah.
Speaking at the end of the course, Ron Kamwendo of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), has hailed the course crucial as it bridges energy planning capacity gaps.
Ismael Antonio Concha Perdomo of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose organization co-hosted the training with the UNECA, said energy was crucial to development hence it was important for experts to be trained from time to time so they can be up to date with energy trends the world over and related issues.
ECA's East Africa office (ECA SRO-EA) partnered with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the Capacity Development Division (CDD) and IDEP in the training undertaken in two phases; energy demand and supply planning and management tools and financial analysis of generation expansion.
Specifically, organizers aimed to have the experts acquire energy planning knowledge on the Model for the Analysis of Energy Demand (MAED) and acquire energy planning knowledge on Model of Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts.
They also wanted participants to gain knowledge on the relevance of building energy balance statistics and learn from country processes and experiences in building one.
