By Abdulai Fofanah
Freetown, 16th April 2026 – The Chairman of Sierra Leone’s Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security (PI-CREF), Hon. Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, has been appointed to a newly established High-Level Panel on Universal Energy Abundance.
In preparation for the summit, Yumkella is leading an Expert Group Meeting and Ministerial Conference in late April 2026, aimed at validating investment pipelines, aligning policy frameworks, and adopting the Freetown Communiqué to guide regional action.
With over three decades of experience, Yumkella is widely recognized for his leadership in sustainable energy and development, having served as a development economist with expertise in agricultural economics, played a pivotal role in advancing global consensus around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 7 (energy access) and SDG 9 (industrialization and infrastructure). As Chairman of PI-CREF, he is actively advancing Sierra Leone’s national energy transformation agenda, including expanding access, increasing generation capacity, and improving electrification.
Yumkella’s appointment ensures that Africa’s perspectives are represented at the highest levels of global energy decision-making. The continent faces the dual challenge of closing persistent energy access gaps while powering industrial growth and climate-resilient development. His experience across multilateral institutions and national policy frameworks positions him to advocate for practical, scalable solutions tailored to developing economies, including innovative financing, decentralized energy systems, and regional energy integration.
Launched by the Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, the panel aims to advance a bold vision: ensuring that everyone has access to reliable, affordable energy at levels sufficient to drive industrialization, job creation, and broad-based prosperity in emerging and developing economies.
Announced on April 14, 2026, the panel convenes leading policymakers, industry executives, and development experts to address one of the most pressing global challenges—universal energy access at scale.
The high-level panel will be Chaired by former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. Yumkella and Bachelet shared a long history of collaboration within the United Nations system, having served as heads of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN Women, respectively.
The panel’s formation comes at a critical moment for global energy systems, which are under increasing strain from geopolitical tensions, climate change, and rising demand driven by digitalization and industrial expansion. In this context, the concept of energy abundance reframes the global conversation—from simply expanding access to ensuring sufficient energy for long-term economic transformation.
The panel is expected to conclude its work with a major report in 2028, outlining actionable policy recommendations and investment strategies to accelerate progress toward universal energy abundance.
For Sierra Leone and the wider African region, Yumkella’s role represents a strategic opportunity to help shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and development-driven global energy future.
The panel’s mission goes beyond basic electrification, focusing instead on “energy abundance” ensuring that countries have the energy capacity required for sustained economic transformation. It is stated that this is particularly urgent as an estimated 730 million people worldwide still lack access to electricity, noting that between 2026 and 2027, the panel will explore solutions across four priority areas: Expanding energy systems at scale, leveraging emerging technologies, mobilizing sustainable financing, strengthening policy and regulatory frameworks.
