Consultant - African Energy Dialogues

Program Overview:

The African Energy Dialogues (AED) aims to create a space for African voices to converge in developing nuanced energy pathways for African countries. The stakeholders involved in this initiative will deliberate on opportunities and trade-offs for achieving African countries’ energy development and industrialisation objectives. The discourse facilitated by AED will address numerous key topics related to countries’ unique energy transition pathways – including the utilisation of renewable energy resources and fossil fuels; enabling policies and regulations; trade, import and export considerations; local and regional transmission and distribution issues; and strategies for scaling up investment and finance.

The AED is led by a Steering Committee consisting of World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa, the African Energy Commission (AFREC), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). AED meetings include in-person and virtual convenings of national and regional policymakers and other key stakeholders in the energy sector across the continent. The AED will deliver reports, policy proposals, recommendations, and tools developed through rigorous discussion, research, and analysis by three Working Groups focusing on 1) Investment and Finance, 2) Enabling Policies and Regulations, and 3) Technologies and Infrastructure. The knowledge materials will be developed by the Working Groups, reviewed, and approved by the Steering Committee, and used strategically to support country-level policymakers in their energy transition planning.

WRI intends to award three consultants a nine-month reimbursable contract for research and analysis to support the three AED Working Groups on key topics related to Africa’s energy transition pathways. Each of the Working Groups -- 1) Investment and Finance, 2) Enabling Policies and Regulations, and 3) Technologies and Infrastructure – will be supported by one consultant.

Each consultant is expected to play a pivotal role in identifying priorities for each Working Group’s activities, conducting in-depth research on identified topics, and presenting findings. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of energy transition issues, particularly in relation to their specific Working Group, and will possess strong analytical and communication skills. Each consultant will be required to provide the following services to the relevant working Group:

Scope of Work (SoW):

1. Engage with the relevant Working Group:
   • Support the Working Group discussions and draft meeting reports with key findings and next steps.
   • Support the identification of priorities in relation to policies and regulations impacting Africa’s energy transition.
   • Conduct research and analysis on identified issues to provide a basis for discourse for the Working Group. Specifically:
     • Undertake desktop research on prioritized issues and conduct outreach with regional experts to develop a draft research paper for consideration by the Working Group.
     • Identify and develop at least two country case studies outlining best practices on the identified topics to be incorporated in the research paper.
     • Report and present the evidence-based research paper to the Working Group for input and further refinement.
     • Revise and present the final research paper for endorsement by Working Group members.
     • Support the WRI team and Working Group Chair in organising a webinar to present the final research paper to a convening of stakeholders for discussion. The responsibilities of the consultant will include:
       • Develop webinar materials including presentations.
       • Present the research findings and the case studies during the webinar.
       • Document the webinar proceedings and draft a webinar report for publication on the AED Website.
       • Develop a policy proposal from the research paper and webinar proceedings for endorsement by the Working Group:
         • Extract key details from the research report and webinar proceedings and develop a draft policy proposal.
         • Submit draft policy proposal to the Working Group for further discussion and agreement.