Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership (TEA-LP) project

The Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership (TEA-LP) project aims to support the development of postgraduate academic curricula at African higher education institutions to bridge the skills gap in Africa’s rapidly-growing energy access sector.

Currently less than 50% of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity, and this rate is lower than 30% for people living in rural areas. Grid access, particularly in rural areas, is very limited, and grid supply is often unsecure and unstable. Providing a secure supply of electricity to people in Sub-Saharan Africa is essential for enabling socio-economic growth and development of the region, as well as improving standards of living, health and wellbeing, and gender equality. Additionally, this electricity must be supplied from clean sources of energy, in order to reduce the growth of carbon emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change, which would otherwise exacerbate many of the developmental challenges already being faced across Africa.

The Transforming Energy Access programme (TEA), which is funded by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DfID) and overseen by the Carbon Trust, aims to advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies and solutions, business models, partnerships and skills that will accelerate access to affordable, clean and safe electricity supply for households and enterprises. Growing the clean energy access sector in Africa will require people with the skills and competencies to develop innovative solutions and sustainable business models that will allow electricity, from new, clean and decentralised (including off-grid) technologies, to be supplied to consumers at affordable rates. The key challenge countries are facing in providing the necessary skills and expertise is a mismatch between graduates being produced by higher-education institutions, and the skills and multi-disciplinary competencies needed in the workplace.

Moi University through the Centre of Excellence in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy won a TEA-LP grant to develop a multidisciplinary and well-rounded curriculum for post-graduate students with a view to bridging existing skills gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly-growing energy access sector. The project is coordinated by University of Cape Town. Other partners in the project include University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria), Tlemcen University in Algeria, Gulu University (Uganda), Makelle University (Ethiopia), University of Malawi- The polytechnic and University of Lesotho.

More details on TEA-LP website: http://www.acdi.uct.ac.za/transforming-energy-access-learning-partnership

The TEA-LP project team members at Moi University are drawn from different Schools.  See file on biographies