On 27 April 2025, a hybrid workshop was held in Bamako, Mali, as part of the sister project ONEPlanET. Organised by ECREEE, a common partner in both ONEPlanET and EMERGE, the event served as a testing session for the ICT toolkit developed under ONEPlanET, bringing together more than 15 stakeholders from different fields.

Taking advantage of the fact that Mali is a shared pilot case for both projects, CARTIF researcher Adrián Mateo Martínez (Energy Division) presented an overview of EMERGE, highlighting the strong synergies and related challenges shared by the two initiatives.

Connecting two projects through a shared geography

EMERGE focuses on three African pilot regions: Morocco, Mozambique, and the Niger River basin (Mali/Nigeria), and it is precisely this last region that creates a direct link with ONEPlanET. Both projects work in the Niger basin context, share common partners (CARTIF, ECREEE, and AfriLabs), and face comparable data and modelling needs.

During the presentation, Adrián Mateo Martínez outlined the EMERGE toolbox, a set of five complementary, open-source tools (CEPIA, Hosting Capacity, Optimal Storage, PowSyBl-METRIX, and GREENADVISE) designed to support energy scenario analysis, grid planning, and local investment decisions. Built through an iterative co-design process with stakeholders, the toolbox aims to turn complex modelling outputs into actionable insights for decision-makers, experts, and local actors.

Synergies with ONEPlanET

The presentation underscored concrete areas of collaboration: both projects share the Niger River basin case study, engage overlapping partner organisations, and have already taken part in joint activities, including the collaborative “Synergies for a Sustainable Energy Transition in Africa” event and the joint General Assembly held in Cabo Verde on 16 October 2025.

The workshop offered a valuable opportunity to discuss shared regional challenges, compare methodological approaches, and explore the potential transferability of results between the two initiatives.