European Governments Back African Renewable Energy Partnership

Finland and Austria pledged to contribute a total of 9.5 million euros (USD12.9 million) to a new partnership promoting renewable energy use in eight African nations, Engineering News reports. The Energy and Environment Partnership will benefit Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. The pledged funding - 8.5 million euros from the Finnish government and 1 million euros from the Austrian Development Agency - will be used to cover partial financing for feasibility studies and pilot demonstration projects on renewable energy and energy efficiency.