On 26 May 2021, a virtual kick-off meeting to launch the activities of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Support Center* in Malawi took place.
Finally, by March 2022, Covid travel restrictions had been lifted, and a delegation of the NDC Support Center – accompanied by the Executive Director of AFREC (the African Energy Commission), Rashid Abdallah – made its way to Malawi to seal the virtual kick-off meeting in May with a local visit to meet with Malawi’s government and development staff in person – including key stakeholders and high-level representatives from Malawi’s Ministry of Energy and Environmental Affairs Department, and Sofie Geerts, Deputy Representative Delegation of Flanders in Malawi (Embassy of Belgium).
As such, the partnership between the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), the African Energy Commission (AFREC), CO2Logic and the Government of Malawi was enhanced, and a constructive steering committee meeting was held to strengthen cooperative ties, and stipulate and manage the project’s further steps and phases.
Amidst the constructive exchanges, all attending parties equally expressed their enthusiasm, commitment and readiness to continue their fruitful cooperation to contribute to a sustainable solution for Africa’s energy sector through this project that aims to improve energy efficiency, facilitate energy transitions and combat climate change challenges in Africa. They also reiterated their gratitude for the trust given by the Government of Flanders – Departement Omgeving, which grants substantial financial support through their international climate finance scheme in order to be able to implement this project.
*The NDC Support Centre was established with the financial support from the Government of Flanders – Departement Omgeving (Belgium) through the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). The NDC Support Center also benefits from technical support from CO2Logic, a carbon and environmental consultancy company, which is part of the implementing consortium together with AFREC and VITO.