Tanzania: First African Member of U.N. Global Bioenergy Partnership

Tanzania will soon become the first African member of the Global Bio-Energy Partnership (GBEP), a partnership of nations whose purpose it is to promote the use and production of bioenergy, with a particular emphasis on underdeveloped countries. The organization currently includes 10 member-states, including Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the United States, and several international institutions, such as the U.N. Foundation, FAO, UNEP and the World Council for Renewable Energy.

Some of GBEP's specific aims include facilitating an international policy dialogue on biofuels, helping to integrate bioenergy into domestic markets by tackling supply chain problems and prompting the exchange of knowledge and skills between member-states through multilateral collaborations.

"Tanzania has principally been accepted to join the GBEP with the condition that it agrees to adhere to the terms of reference of the global body," said Arcado Ntagazwa, the executive director of Kitomondo Plantations Ltd, a company based in Tanzania.

The African nation has already invested tremendous resources into building a large biofuel production infrastructure: plantations of oil-producing crops such as jatropha, moringa and neem have been popping up all around the country. According to Ntagazwa, the seeds could form the basis of a steady supply of cheap, efficient biofuels, that could eventually be marketed to other countries.

Via :: Tanzania to become first African member of the UN's Global Bio-Energy Partnership (blog)