Five African countries join Solar Alliance

Five African countries including Djibouti, Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia and Ghana on Monday May 22, 2017 signed the ISA framework agreement to join the International Solar Alliance, while Comoros was expected to sign and submit its ratification instrument on Tuesday. Nauru also submitted it’s instrument of ratification.
An ISA event was held on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meeting in Gandhinagar. Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley graced the signing and ratification ceremony organised by MEA.
A total of 30 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Guinea Bissau, India, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Republic of Guinea, Senegal, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) signed the ISA Framework Agreement in Marrakech on 15 November 2016 (within 41 days of finalizing the text of the agreement, a record in itself). Rwanda signed the Framework Agreement on 9 January 2017, taking the total number of signatories to 25 countries.
Within 7 months of the opening of the Framework Agreement for signature in November 2016, the total numbers of signatories to the ISA framework agreement have reached 31, with 6 countries ratifying the agreement, a record in itself. The ISA as a legal entity will come into existence once 15 countries ratify and deposit the framework agreement.
India and France were the first two countries to ratify the Framework Agreement. Fiji has also completed the ratification process and will deposit its instrument with the MEA in the next few weeks.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November 2015 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
The Prime Minister of India and the President of France jointly laid the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat of the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Haryana on 25th January, 2016. Launching the Secretariat, Prime Minister of India stated that the ISA as a potent tool for mutual cooperation among the member countries for mutual gains through enhances solar energy utilization.