- Afreximbank is financing a rural electrification project worth € 53 million to be implemented in 200 localities in Cameroon.
- The initiative will enable the implementation of solar photovoltaic systems.
The installation of 87 solar photovoltaic micro power plants in 200 locations without connection to the national electrical grid is being funded by a € 53 million loan from Afreximbank. 13,000 families will profit from the initiative, which is a part of the third phase of the program to construct solar photovoltaic systems in 1,000 locations. The program, which has an installed capacity of 24.2 MWp and has already assisted 26,000 houses in 350 Cameroonian villages, is being carried out using Huawei’s technological advancements.
Additionally, in the second half of 2022, the association Communes et villes unies du Cameroun will install 100,750 solar streetlights in a number of rural towns through a public-private partnership with Sunna Design. To encourage the transfer of knowledge required for the development of local jobs, the French company will deploy streetlights from its iSSL+ linked range and build a factory to make these solar lanterns in the commune of Yaoundé 7. Cameroon has a total installed capacity of about 1.6 GW produced by thermal and hydroelectric power plants, and it is increasingly relying on green energy choices to satisfy its energy goals. The finance provided by Afreximbank for renewable energy could help the Cameroonian government increase the rate of access to power in rural regions, which the World Bank estimates will be 25% in 2020 compared to 64.7% nationally.