- $379.6 million was recently allocated by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a power financing facility
- The African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the Desert to Power program to develop a 10,000 MW installed capacity to power 250 million people in the Sahel.
- This phase of the program, according to the AfDB, will reduce emissions by more than 14.4 million tons of CO2.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has allocated $379.6 million to the Desert to Power Financing Facility. This funding includes provision for technical assistance to improve implementation capacity, create an enabling environment for private sector investment, and ensure gender and climate mainstreaming. Technical assistance is expected to be provided over seven years.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the Desert to Power program to develop a 10,000 MW installed capacity to power 250 million people in the Sahel. The G5 Sahel countries focus on the financing facility launched as part of this initiative, which will produce 500MW of solar energy and provide electricity storage for 695,000 households. The pan-African bank set up the financing facility to help the G5 Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) transition to low-carbon electricity generation by leveraging the region’s great solar potential. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has already contributed $150 million to the facility. The AfDB estimates that the funds received under the facility will mobilize an additional $437 million.
The remaining funds will come from commercial banks and other private investors, including large-scale independent power producers (IPPs). This phase of the program, according to the AfDB, will reduce emissions by over 14.4 million tons of CO2 equivalent for its lifetime.