Beyond the Connection: Distributed Renewable Energy as an Engine for Jobs, Skills, and Economic Growth

​Organised by Sun King, FSD Africa, CLASP, and GOGLA, the roundtable will bring together policymakers, investors, development financiers, donors, and sector leaders working across energy, climate and economic development. As countries accelerate energy access through Mission 300 and other national priorities, the conversation will look beyond connections alone to the jobs, enterprise growth, and domestic economic value that distributed renewable energy can create. Africa's green economy is projected to generate up to 7.9 million jobs by 2030 and as many as 84.5 million by 2050, with the majority of that employment expected to be service-led and distributed.

​Drawing on new research from FSD Africa, CLASP, and Sun King and partners, the event will explore what it will take to realize more of the sector’s jobs and economic growth potential through national policy, finance and workforce planning, including:

• ​How distributed energy can be recognized and counted within national jobs, growth and infrastructure strategies

• ​How to finance the appliances, productive uses and enterprises that turn electricity access into income and employment

• ​How governments, industry and financiers can build the skilled workforce growing DRE markets will need, sustain jobs and capabilities as markets evolve, and support the firms investing in training

• ​How distributed energy creates jobs well beyond its own value chain, making formal businesses viable and powering millions of home-based enterprises, while improving the health and productivity of workers themselves

​The roundtable will be held in person in Midtown, Manhattan, with an option to join online for those who cannot attend on the day.

Registration is an application, not a guarantee of attendance: only those who receive a confirmation email will be added to the guest list. The venue address will be shared with confirmed attendees ahead of the event.