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On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, we wanted to organize this meeting on renewable energy in Africa, because it is part of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. It is now a matter of urgency to implement what we decided in Paris, which means ratifying it – and I know you are very mindful of this in each of your countries – so that at the end of the year we can have the ratification instruments: 55 countries representing 55 per cent of emissions. But in Marrakech – and I pay tribute here to the Moroccan Foreign Minister – I want us to be in a position to say: there you are, the agreement is already being implemented and we can launch initiatives.It is very interesting to note that we have not waited until COP22 before taking action and presenting projects. The COP President, Ségolène Royal, has committed herself to visiting a large number of countries, and I can confirm that we hardly ever see her any more in Paris: she is travelling all over Africa. I think she has visited no fewer than 17 countries; we have made sure – and I thank all those who have contributed to this: Jean-Louis Borloo and the President of the ADB [African Development Bank] – that we can prepare all the possible projects that could start as quickly as possible. We can also assess the financial commitments.The donors have contributed US$10 billion, France has committed around €2 billion, and I pay tribute to Egypt’s President Sisi, because he is co-chairing this event with France. We have managed to release European funds, and I think we can now launch a lot of investment. This is especially necessary because in the space of a year, only a year, renewable energy prices have fallen considerably. Technical solutions have also been widely disseminated, and innovation has managed to make possible what was hitherto not regarded as profitable enough, or accessible enough over a reasonable period. For example, I note there are solar power plants in Senegal, Mali, Egypt and Zambia, and significant projects in Ethiopia, Namibia and Kenya. (...) In Cameroon, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, we have loads of experience we can share.Forty projects are already being financed entirely or partially by the French Development Agency, and we have reason to believe they can be implemented very rapidly: I am thinking of a wind farm in Kenya, a solar farm in Senegal and the hydroelectric dam in Cameroon. We are also making progress – in addition to the projects, in addition to the finance – on the governance of the initiative, and this was also a very important point. Who is “FORTY PROJECTS ARE ALREADY BEING FINANCED ENTIRELY OR PARTIALLY BY THE FRENCH DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THEY CAN BE IMPLEMENTED VERY RAPIDLY”FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT, THE FRENCH REPUBLICSUPPORTING AFRICA’S RENEWABLE ENERGY AMBITION032 THE G20 MEMBER COUNTRIES