Ashish Khanna, Director General Designate of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), said on Monday that among the “big opportunities” is the private sector pension funds that are sitting on as much as $3-4 trillion in assets that can be leveraged to expand solar power capacity in least developed countries.
The ongoing seventh session of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Assembly selected Khanna from India as its third Director General on Monday. He will take over from Ajay Mathur, whose term ends in March 2025.
On the upcoming challenges and opportunities, Khanna said, “The fact that ISA has 102 countries shows that it has travelled quite a distance already. I would like to build on two or three aspects on what ISA is doing extremely well already. One is deepening capacity. I really believe that a lot of countries like India can be the human capital of the world. We have such deep capacities with public sector institutions and private sector that a lot of countries in Africa and Pacific islands can benefit from this particular capacity.
“Second is on enabling the private sector. There is almost $3-4 trillion of money in pension funds in private sector that is not being able to move, especially to lower developed countries. Some form of a platform that can bring together stakeholders in galvanising that private sector money taking advantage of the GCF and scaling it up. Those are the few big opportunities.”
Khanna brings with him 26 years of experience leading energy sector development across private and public sectors in more than 15 developing countries across South Asia, Middle East & North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
In his current role as the Head of the World Bank’s West and Central Africa Programme, Khanna is leading Mission 300 for energy access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030.
In India, as the Lead Energy Specialist at the World Bank, he worked with the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy on policy and regulatory reforms to enable private sector engagement in solar.
The outgoing Director General Mathur said, “As I step down from my role, I want to take a moment to welcome Ashish Khanna to this incredible journey ahead. The challenges ahead are great, but so are the opportunities. My simple advice is to trust your intuition, lean on the support around you, and know that you have the skills to make a lasting impact.”
Mathur, who has led ISA since 2021, will conclude his tenure on March 14, 2025.
Under his leadership, ISA achieved significant milestones such as increasing the Member and Signatory Countries to 103 and 17, respectively. The successful identification of 50 start-ups with potential to dynamise their countries’ journey towards solar energy is another notable achievement.
Asked about ISA’s success stories under his stewardship, he said “The Solar X programme in identifying start ups and creating support for them. We have identified 20 start ups in Africa and 30 in Asia Pacific. Next year, hopefully, we will go to Latin America and the Caribbean. That to me has been one of our unexpected successes.
The Global Solar Facility (GCF) is again something which is a work in progress. It is a success that is happening, but it is not yet there, he pointed out.
“We have $39 million and we are looking at at least making it a $50 million before we proceed with the investment manager, which is Africa50 and then raising it to $100 million and expanding it into Asia Pacific and so on,” Mathur added.