December 3rd, 2014

December 3rd, 2014
Maison de la RATP, 189 rue de Bercy – Paris 12th
Access to energy undeniably contributes to human development and is vital in fighting
against poverty. Yet rapidly growing fossil energy consumption worldwide affects global
public goods like climate and environmental protection to such an extent that it could
jeopardize its benefits. So, how can we foster energy-led economic development, while still
reducing harmful environmental impacts in developing countries?
Answering this requires going beyond the immediate optimization-under-constraint
approaches to reconsider both development and energy policies globally. The 11th
AFD/Proparco-EUDN will gather academics, practitioners, policy makers and private sector
representatives, and will address a wide array of topics and questions relating to the link
between energy and economic development.
9H30-9H45: Welcome speech – F. Bourguignon (President of EUDN) / C. Périou (CEO of
PROPARCO)
Session 1 (9h45-10h30) : What are the main challenges about energy for sustainable development?
This paper will give to the audience the big picture of the current situation and trends on the global
energy market (production side, demand side, price fluctuation and subsidies, accessibility) and the key
figures about environmental impact of the energy sector. Based on this macro-diagnostic, the paper will
present the main challenges for the energy sector to conciliate human development and environment
preservation, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Session 2 (10h30-12h00) : Environmental implications and potential economic impacts of energy
choices
Keynote speaker: John Reilly (MIT)
This paper offers modeling arguments and policy analysis that shed new light on the complexity
underlying the energy-economy link in new and emerging economies. It starts by providing an overview
of the energy challenges of economic development and then takes the next step of assessing the impact
of existing or proposed energy policy on a variety of dimensions affecting economic development and
welfare in the long term. The exercise of simulating alternative future pathways of economic
development, technology development and energy use is operationalized on the Chinese context.
Discussants: Anita George (Senior Director of the Energy and Extractive Industries practice of the World
Bank Group) (tbc), Peter Hoddinott (Executive Vice-president at Lafarge) (tbc), Jean-Michel Severino
(CEO of I&P)
12H-14H: Lunch and networking
Session 3 (14h00-15h30) : Powering Africa: meeting the financing and reform challenges
Keynote speaker : Anton Eberhard (University of Cape Town)
The slow progress in power generation and distribution acts as a drag on African development and it is
urgent to overcome this crucial constraint. While the problems seem to be known, as well as the
recommendations provided by international donors, the paper will try to explain why it is so difficult to
reform the sector: is the diagnostic correct? Are the reforms adequate? What have we learned from
countries’ experience? The financing needs are huge. How to mobilize private funding, and better
articulate private and public participations?
Discussants: Bertrand de la Borde (Responsible for infrastructure operations in Sub-Saharan Africa at
IFC), Antonio Estache (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Helen Tarnoy (Co-founder and Executive Director
of Aldwych International Ltd)
Session 4 (16h00-17h30) : How to develop rural access to electricity in developing countries?
Keynote speaker: Maximo Torero (IFPRI)
The general view that increasing rural access to electricity in poor countries would significantly
contribute to development in general is uncontroversial. We are less clear on the precise effects of
electrification, and, most importantly, how these effects may depend on the kind of access that is
offered to households: connection to the country's or the region's grid vs. local micro-plant or solar
devices, type of operator (public-private), type of cost-recovery, … The ambition of this session is to
synthetize this macro and micro literature on the effects of rural electrification and to put forward what
it may imply for the way ambitious electrification programs must be undertaken.
Discussants: Edouard Dahomé (Head of decentralized solutions department at EDF), Jorg Peters (RWI)
Session 5 (17h30-18h15) - Policy Implications
Considering the previous discussions, this session will highlight the main policy implications about
energy for sustainable development. It will elaborate on what next steps could be taken in the energy
sector, in terms of energy mix, access, pricing and subsidies, public-private partnership, … Feedbacks
from countries experience could also feed into the discussion and will help to identify some policy
recommendations and new areas for research.
18H15-18H30: Closing speech – A. Paugam (CEO of AFD)
Also with the participation of Gaël Giraud (CNRS, PSE, University Paris I), Mohinder Gulati (Sustainable
Energy For All),
BIOS
John Reilly is the Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Joint Program on the Science and
Policy of Global Change at the Center for Environmental Policy Research at the MIT Sloan
School of Management.
An energy, environmental, and agricultural economist, Reilly focuses on understanding the role
of human activities as a contributor to global environmental change and the effects of
environmental change on society and the economy. A key element of his work is the
integration of economic models of the global economy as it represents human activity with
models of biophysical systems, including the ocean, atmosphere, and terrestrial vegetation. By
understanding the complex interactions of human society with our planet, the goal is to aid in
the design of policies that can effectively limit the contribution of human activity to
environmental change, to facilitate adaptation to unavoidable change, and to understand the
consequences of the deployment of large-scale energy systems that will be needed to meet
growing energy needs.
Reilly holds a BS in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
as well as an MS and a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Prof Eberhard leads the Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform and Regulation at
the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town. This is a leading centre of excellence
and expertise in Africa and other emerging or developing economies. It is committed to
making a contribution to enhancing knowledge and capacity to manage the reform and
regulation of the electricity, gas, telecommunications, water and transport industries in
support of sustainable development. Prof Eberhard teaches executive education and
professional short courses that attract participants from across the African continent. His
research focuses primarily on the management of reform and regulation of the electricity
sector, including the introduction of private sector participation in management contracts,
leases, concessions, divestiture and greenfield investments by independent power producers.
His work also covers the challenges in transforming state-owned enterprises.
A focus area is research on regulatory, institutional and financial mechanisms that promote
widened access to infrastructure services. He has also done work on financial mechanisms and
business models that facilitate the introduction of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
He is a Foundation Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and serves on the
country’s National Planning Commission. In 2012, he received the South African National
Energy Association’s award for an outstanding and sustained contribution to the enhancement
of the South African energy environment.
Maximo Torero is the Division Director of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division at the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), leader of the Global Research Program on
Institutions and Infrastructure for Market Development and Director for Latin America. He has
fifteen years of experience in applied research and in operational activities. In this capacity as
director and research program leader, he directs the activities of an IFPRI unit that conducts
research, with special emphasis on M&E of infrastructure and rural development interventions
in urban and peri-urban areas through the use of randomized experimental design. Prior to
joining IFPRI, he was a senior researcher and member of the executive committee at Group of
Analysis for Development (GRADE). He is also a professor on leave at the Universidad del
Pacífico, and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at University of Bonn, Germany.
Dr. Torero’s major research work lies mostly in analyzing poverty, inequality, importance of
geography and assets (private or public) in explaining poverty, and in policies oriented towards
poverty alleviation based on the role played by infrastructure, institutions, and on how
technological breakthroughs (or discontinuities) can improve the welfare of households. He
has won twice the World Award for Outstanding Research on Development given by the Global
Development Network (GDN).
He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles, Department of
Economics and held a postdoctoral fellow position at the UCLA Institute for Social Science
Research (ISSR).