19^th  ESEIA Lecture  | Energy System Modelling for Green Africa

8 October 2026 | 19.00 – 21.00 (CET) |  Registration is now open

Co-Organisers: ESEIA and TU Graz, EMERGE  

Invited Lecture: Nanko Madu, Director of Programmes, Afrilabs, NG

1st response:  Charles Diarra, ECREEE, CV | 2nd response: Goran Krajacic, U Zagreb, FSB, HR

Chair: Lothar Fickert, TU Graz, AT | Host: Andrea Höglinger, Vice-Rector, TU Graz, AT

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Abstract: Energy system modelling is essential for guiding clean energy transitions, yet most frameworks are not well suited to African contexts. As countries accelerate renewable deployment and electrification, there is a growing need for locally relevant tools and stronger modelling capacity.

This lecture focuses on the specific needs of African countries in pursuing sustainable, inclusive, and resilient energy transitions. It highlights key challenges, including data scarcity and the gap between modelling outputs and policy implementation. Drawing on Africa–Europe collaboration and the EU funded EMERGE project, the session showcases examples of tools that support national planning, enhance decision-making, and enable more effective investment strategies for a green African transition.

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About the speakers: 

Invited Lecturer: Nanko Madu, Director of Programs, AfriLabs, NG

Nanko Madu is the Director of Programs at AfriLabs, the largest network organisation of technology and innovation hubs in Africa, leading the  organization’s  design and implementation of programmes focused on building the African tech and innovation ecosystem through the deployment of capacity building and improvement strategies targeted at hubs, startups, innovators, SMEs as well as women and youths. She is a mentor, innovation ecosystem builder, international public speaker and advisor. Her wealth of experience in ecosystem development and support has solidified her reputation as a luminary in the area of Innovation and Tech ecosystem building. She has built a remarkable career spanning over 14 years working on various programs that promote economic development, green economy, renewable energy, research, education and capacity building across different sectors.

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First Response: Charles Diarra, Coordinator of the Energy Efficiency Program, ECREEE, CV

Charles Diarra is the Coordinator of the Energy Efficiency Program of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), where he is designing  and implementing the ECOWAS energy efficiency activities: Energy Efficiency Policy, Energy Efficiency in buildings, industry, standards, and labels, energy nexus water, clean cooking solutions. Prior he was the Head of the Energy Efficiency Programme of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. His interest in clean energy technologies began in academia, where as a professor, he taught clean energy technologies and industrial energy efficiency system since 2005 at Queens’ University, and at Saint Lawrence college in Kingston, Canada. He conducted Post-Doctoral Researches on the improvement of renewable energy efficiency in hot climate zones and the integration of solar energy into buildings at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and holds a PhD in Renewable Energy Technologies from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.

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Second Response: Goran Krajačić, Associate Professor, University of Zagreb, HR

Goran Krajačić holds the role of an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Zagreb since 2019 and has extensive experience in the field of energy and sustainable development.

Since 2023, he has been an associate of the Croatian Academy of Engineering and vice president of ESEIA. He also acts as Working Group leader of ESEIA’s Working Group 2: Energy Transition in Urban Regions. He is also an active reviewer for projects of the European Commission and other scientific institutions, and is Secretary of the SDEWES Centre, the International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems based in Zagreb, Croatia.

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Chair: Lothar Fickert, TU Graz, AT 

Lothar Fickert headed the Institute for Electrical Systems at Graz University of Technology from 1998 to 2017. He is also active in various national and international organisations. In addition to his national and international activities, he is the author of 211 technical articles, holds 8 patents and numerous awards and prizes. Since then, he has been increasingly active in his original field, that of electrical protection technology, in university and public spaces. As a guest lecturer, he also contributes to university students’  electrical engineering education.

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Host: Andrea Höglinger

Andrea Höglinger has been Vice Rector for Research at TU Graz since October 2023. She was head of European and International Programmes (EIP) at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) since 2011 and acted as the coordinating national contact point for Horizon Europe and is active in numerous EU programmes and initiatives. Andrea Höglinger graduated in social and economic sciences from the University of Vienna. In the early 1990s, she was one of the founding members of the Centre for Social Innovation, a non-university research institution in Vienna, where she also served as chief financial officer. Since 2000, Andrea Höglinger has held various management positions at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and has extensive expertise in the field of national and European research and innovation funding. She is also a member of WISIA “Women in Science”, an interdisciplinary association to connect Austrian female scientists from the fields of basic research, applied research, and technology.

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