Coming back from last weeks' World Economic Forum in Davos, Naoko Ishii noted that the link between energy, climate change, and economic growth and opportunities was a central theme in the discussions among the global leaders gathered in Davos. "In Davos we talked for example about how to close the energy gap in Africa, where more than 600 million people today are without modern energy. Clean energy will play a central role in closing this gap," Ishii said "especially in rural areas where off-grid solutions are the only realistic way forward. At the same time it is very encouraging that several African countries, for example South Africa, Kenya or Morocco, are rapidly expanding their on-grid renewable energy capacity through large-scale investments in wind, geothermal and solar".