The participants agreed to organise 100 sessions at municipal level by the end of 2019 to consider joining the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) initiative, which is funded by the EU. They also committed to develop 25 sustainable energy and climate action plans before the end of the year.

“We have learned that after signing the covenant of mayors and submitting our political commitment, we can have support to develop our action plan. The experience of the Mayor of Kampala Capital City has helped us to decide definitely that access to energy will be our priority for the next five years,” said one of the participants, Elise Mballa Meka, Mayor of Akom II municipality, South of Cameroon.

A key recommendation of the workshop was for cities to work towards the production of renewable energy that could generate about 500 megawatts of electricity in their municipalities by 2025.

Importantly, participants discussed available and potential financing opportunities to fund city projects, and set a target to mobilise EUR 250 million by 2020.

“Local governments such as municipalities and cities are key players in addressing the dual challenge of climate change and access to energy. The European Union supports this initiative with more than 40 million euros,” said Mr. Felice Zaccheo, head of unit for Sustainable Energy and Climate Change at the Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission.

In her closing remarks, Ms Célestine Ketcha Courtès, Minister of Habitat and Housing, and former mayor of Banganté in Western Cameroon, who was among the first signatories to CoM SSA, said: "The tools and knowledge developed and shared over the past three days will have a positive impact on the development of our country's living environment." The workshop was organised by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in partnership with the United Nations Settlements programme (UN Habitat).

Left: Minister Ketcha Courtès makes closing remarks to the workshop; right: Mr Zaccheo speaks to the press