Mauritius becomes first African country to sign ISA's Country Partnership Framework

Mauritius is the first country in the Africa region, and the fourth country after Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Cuba to sign the CPF.

This partnership aims to provide a structured approach for the ISA and Mauritius to collaborate on solar energy initiatives, aligning with Mauritius's national priorities. ISA said in a statement that this will accelerate the clean energy transition through collaborative solar energy projects.

"The CPF is a strategic initiative developed by ISA to enable long-term, medium-term cooperation between ISA and its Member Countries. This will lead to a detailed Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) tailored to the specific needs and opportunities in Mauritius, with a strong focus on scaling solar technologies such as floating solar, solar rooftops, and solar water pumping systems," said Ashish Khanna, Director General of ISA.

The Framework is set for a duration of three years and can be renewed based on mutual consent. Following the signing, the next step will be to develop a country-driven, needs-based Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) that will include the review and development of solar roadmaps, the creation of supportive regulatory frameworks to facilitate solar energy deployment, and capacity-building across technical, regulatory, and financing sectors.

This collaboration will also focus on scaling solar technologies like solar rooftops, floating solar projects, agrivoltaics, solar water pumping systems, and solar-powered Green Hydrogen projects.

Barakat Ahmed, the Regional Programmes Head for Africa at ISA, and Zeenat Guness-Goolbar, Permanent Secretary of Mauritius' Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities, formalized the partnership in Port Louis.

Guness-Goolbar expressed pride in Mauritius being at the forefront of solar energy development in Africa, stating, "Energy, especially solar development, is a priority for our government. With the support of ISA, we are taking significant strides in our clean energy transition."

The signing of the CPF was part of a week-long series of events, including the Global SolarX Accelerator Programme, which hosted 35 startups from ISA's SolarX Startup Challenge.

This program, running throughout 2025, will help solar startups scale operations and enhance business acumen with the help of world-class mentors and experts in business development and financing.

A significant achievement under ISA's collaboration with Mauritius has been the solarisation of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, completed in June 2024.

This initiative, part of the ISA CARES programme, provides renewable energy to healthcare facilities in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Mauritius's commitment to solar energy is also reflected in the planned development of the Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C), which will enhance the country's capacity to implement solar projects and attract private investments.

The CPF lays out a detailed action plan to support the deployment of solar technologies and build the country's renewable energy infrastructure. (ANI)