COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum called for an urgent increase in the pace of electrification of the world economy, saying it was critical to the fight against climate change and to implementing the commitments made at previous COPs.

Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change in COP31 host Türkiye, said the current energy crisis had underscored the importance of renewable power generation and the national diversification of energy sources. This all pointed to the importance of increasing electricity as a power source across the globe.

“Governments, international agencies, and the private sector are increasingly focusing on electrification as a critical frontier of the transition,” Kurum told the Copenhagen Climate Ministers’ Meeting.

“Today, around 20 percent of final energy consumption is met by electricity. Together, we should aim to raise that number as quickly as possible.”

Final energy consumption refers to the energy consumed by end-users such as individuals and businesses to heat and cool buildings, run lights, devices, and appliances, and power vehicles, machines and factories.

Africa must urgently close its electricity gap if it is to industrialize, expand regional value chains and deliver on the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area, Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary Claver Gatete said.

Speaking virtually at the Ministerial Compact Roundtable on Financing Africa’s Nuclear Energy Future, held during the Nuclear Energy Innovation Summit on Africa 2026, Gatete said reliable and affordable power would determine the continent’s economic competitiveness.

“No nation industrializes in the dark,” he said. “Africa cannot realize the promise of the AfCFTA or build competitive regional value chains on intermittent power alone.”

Gatete said Africa’s energy challenge is taking place at a time of overlapping global shocks, including climate extremes, high borrowing costs, tighter finance, and geopolitical instability. These pressures, he noted, are disrupting energy markets, trade routes and public finances, while limiting the ability of many African countries to finance the infrastructure they need.

He said the AfCFTA offers Africa a historic opportunity to deepen intra-African trade, expand productive capacity, strengthen regional value chains and build long-term resilience. But this transformation, he warned, will not happen without electricity at scale.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA), FSD Africa and Ethiopia convened over 80 representatives from Ethiopia’s financial sector this week for the Stakeholder Validation Workshop of Ethiopia’s Capital Markets Master Plan (CMMP), a ten-year strategic roadmap designed by Genesis Analytics and Bourse Consult to develop a deep, diversified, and trusted capital market capable of financing the country’s economic transformation.

Held at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, the two-day workshop brought together regulators, government ministries, financial institutions, capital market intermediaries, professional associations, and development partners to review the draft CMMP, stress-test its implementation priorities, and build collective ownership of the reform agenda it sets out.

Ethiopia’s capital market has moved rapidly from institutional establishment into early market operation. The Ethiopian Securities Exchange is operational, the Central Securities Depository is advancing, and licensed intermediaries are active. The CMMP now provides the strategic framework to consolidate these gains and move toward a more mature, diversified market over the coming decade.

The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2026 was awarded to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, in recognition of its courageous work defending press freedom amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Over the recent years of conflict, the Syndicate has documented dozens of journalist killings and hundreds of violations against media workers, continuing to provide vital, reliable information under extremely dangerous conditions. With much of the country’s media infrastructure destroyed, their work remains essential to ensuring access to information in what has become a “zone of silence.”

The Award Ceremony was held in UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 4th May. UNESCO’s Director-General Khaled El-Enany awarded the Prize, on the recommendation of an independent international Jury, at the presence of a delegation of fourteen representatives of the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS).