James Wakaba is an engineer by profession with 20 years industry and management experience.  He spent 10 years working with organizations such as Unilever and Magadi Soda as an engineering and projects manager years before joining the energy sector ten years ago. He spent the first five of those working in energy efficiency as a consultant doing energy audits, energy policy consultancy, training and project management for a GEF/UNDP funded project at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). He helped set up a centre of energy efficiency and conservation at the KAM and develop a curriculum for energy manager training at Masters degree level at the University of Nairobi. He was part of the team that attempted to set up an ESCO in Kenya, which still operates as an energy efficiency consultancy to date.

He then worked as a consultant on renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change. Before his current posting, James headed a programme to introduce standards for energy efficiency in appliances in Uganda. He is currently working to increase energy access to rural and peri-urban poor in various African countries. James’ areas of interest are energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change, and project finance. He has worked on energy projects ranging from community biomass substitution, industrial energy efficiency to power generation throughout Africa.