With the 2030 SDGs and Agenda 2063 the African leaders and standardisation Community have made clear their commitment to attaining inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development – with a focus to the 5ps (5Ps – People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace and Partnership), especially the Planet which emphasises, the need to respect the planet Earth, in terms of environmental sustainability. The 2030s SDGs place considerable emphasis on the environment, with six environmentally-focused goals (6, 7 and 12-15) – water and sanitation, energy, sustainable consumption. By 2030, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7aims to i) ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services, ii) substantially increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and iii) double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency. For this ARSO also takes cognisant of the importance of Bioethanol for Cooking and fuel, as a way of addressing the Agenda 2063 and 2030 SDGs, noting that, Bioethanol has evolved as a potential source for biofuel production at the current state of energy insecurity and in environmental safety challenges over fossil.

ARSO recognises the benefits of Bioethanol for environmental conservation, given that Bioethanol is biodegradable, low in toxicity and causes little environmental pollution; It stands out for its clean combustion and reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG), it is a clean biofuel because it is nonhazardous. It leaves almost nothing of pollutants for the environment (Sirajunnisa and Surendhiran, 2016).

Why harmonised standards

For the Standardisation, bit ARSO recognises that significant efforts have been made by national standards bodies in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania—alongside ARSO, to harmonize bioethanol fuel standards across the region, and especially under the ARSO/TC 68, Bioenergy and biogas. And in some related Technical Committees.

The Bioethanol harmonised standards within the Biothermal sector will facilitate economies of scale by reducing conformity assessment costs and facilitating mass production, while also increasing Efficient use of resources. Certified products increase the volume of trade, and the harmonised Standards will enhance product reputation and provide for lesser market risks for companies introducing bioethanol products to the market, as harmonised standards have higher recognition, acceptance and reputation.

• As per the UNCTAD Research Paper No. 11, December 2017, globally relevant harmonised standards make it easier for many companies’ (particularly small and medium enterprises) to get their products across national boundaries around the world and in respective value chains. From this point of view, many authors describe standards as instruments for value chain management and administration (governance).
• For Africa, Heterogeneity of standards and Conformity Assessment regimes, developed by different countries and regions make trade within value chains contentious and costly (OECD and WTO 2012). But these difficulties can be circumvented through harmonization of national standards into international or regional ones (OECD, WTO, and UNCTAD 2013).
• Standards that are harmonized in a regional agreement increase trade flows between the partners (Chen and Mattoo (2008)), as harmonised African standards, like harmonised International are specifications with global consensus and increase the  openness of economies and governance of Value Chains, as the supply and demand of the concerned goods and services are as large as possible and economies of scale can be exploited (Blind 2004), hence the need for harmonised standards in Africa priority sectors, like the Bio Energy sector.