Mr. Rashid Ali Abdallah is the Executive Director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) under the African Union Commission (AUC), where he has served since November 2018. A seasoned energy policy expert with more than two decades of experience in Africa’s energy sector, Mr. Abdallah leads continental efforts to align energy development with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the priorities of AU Member States.

At AFREC, his leadership focuses on promoting harmonised energy data, supporting energy policy development, building capacity for African energy institutions, renewable energy, energy efficiency and fostering international cooperation for technical and financial support to advance energy access and just energy transition in Africa, among other programmes. 

Prior to joining AFREC, Mr. Abdallah served as Head of the Energy Division at the African Union Commission and as Project Manager for the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility GRMF). He also held key engineering and managerial positions in Sudan’s thermal power sector, where he contributed to major power plant projects, including combined-cycle and steam turbine installations.

Mr. Abdallah holds an MSc in Project Management from the University of Birmingham, a Postgraduate Diploma in Energy Engineering, and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Khartoum.