Dr Bachir Ismael Ouedraogo is currently Senior Advisor Sahel and Power Africa at the Tony Blair
Institute for Global Change. Prior to this position he was the Minister of Energy and Mine of
Burkina Faso for about 4 years. He successfully implemented about 200MW solar projects in
Burkina including solar pumping and irrigation for about 100 villages to support farmers in
agriculture. He doubled electricity access to the population when he was in office using extensive
solar energy for rural area. He is a PhD in Economics of Renewable Energy and Climate Change of
the University of Manchester where he also conducted several researches on the financial impact
of renewable energy for developing countries. He also has a Master in Public Finance from the
University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Dr Bachir previous professional experience includes
the position of Coordinator of the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Support Facility.
That facility aimed at supporting entrepreneurs in the Ecowas region to develop their business in
the renewable energy sector and support them to have bankable project that will meet the
requirements of the investors. He is the founder and CEO of OPEN Education which developed
innovative eLearning solution for developing countries. He has also been elected twice as an MP
for the parliament of Burkina Faso where he took the position of Parliamentarian Secretary.
