Sub-Saharan African cities are invited to join the CoM SSA initiative

On 12 September, Sub-Saharan African cities appealed to their peers to join the voluntary initiative Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa as a framework for developing and implementing effective local climate and energy actions.

Sub-Saharan cities across the continent invited their peers to join Covenant of Mayors Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) to make a voluntary political commitment to implement climate and energy actions in their communities and agree on a long-term vision to tackle 3 pillars, namely access to energy, mitigation and adaptation. The appeal came through an official letter signed by mayors and local leaders that will be announced today during the Climate Chance – World Summit of Climate Actors in Agadir (Morocco).

“To go far, we need to go together” stated Luc Atrokpo, Mayor of Bohicon and President of Communauté des communes de Zou (CCZ), Benin.

Among the mayors making the appeal were the President of UCLG Africa and Mayor of City Council of Dakar – Khalifa Sall, the Chairperson of ICLEI Africa and Mayor of Bafut Council, Cameroon – Abel Langsi Ngwasoh, the Mayor of Praia, Cape Verde – Óscar Santos, Mayor of Kampala, Uganda – Honorable Erias Lukwago, and the Mayor/Deputy President of South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Ethekwini Metro Municipality South Africa – Cllr Gumede Zandile.Cities joining CoM SSA before November will be invited to meet, exchange and share about their actions at the first ever Africa – Europe Local Government Forum in Abidjan on 27 November 2017 on the eve of the fifth EU-African Union Summit.

PLATFORMA sits in CoM SSA steering committee and defends peer-to-peer and city-to-city learning also with the European counterparts.

About the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa

The “Covenant of Mayors in Sub- Saharan Africa” (CoM SSA) is an initiative supporting Sub-Saharan African cities in their fight against climate change and in their efforts in ensuring access to clean energy to their populations. CoM SSA is part of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the broadest global alliance committed to climate leadership.

For more information about the initiative and the activities in support of it, please send an e-mail to: helpdesk@comssa.org.

You can find the initiative on Twitter (@CoMOSSAfrica) and Facebook (Covenant of Mayors Office for Sub-Saharan Africa).