Mauricio Peralta, Energy Specialist at the Organization of American States (OAS), opened the session on Sunday and presented a new financial scheme to promote renewable energy mini-grids in un-electrified rural areas. Mr Peralta, pointed out that there are a number of barriers that need to be overcome before mini-grids can be deployed in Southern Africa, emphasizing the need to strengthen legal and regulatory framework for independent power producers and to create incentives to minimise financial risks. Therefore, well-adapted financial schemes, such as the "Renewable Energy Premium Tariff (RPT)", are essential for the dissemination of off-grid renewable energies. Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) have been successful in promoting the use of renewables in many parts of the world - notably in Germany, Denmark and Spain. The RPT is an adaptation of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) concept to Southern African countries based on lessons learnt from successful policy and implementation in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius and South Africa.