- The 5th AfDB AEMP highlighted five countries’ clean energy projects and plans.
- The AEMP highlight countries ready for r private sector investments in the power sector
Five African countries made investment cases for their clean energy projects at the recent Africa Energy Marketplace organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The event brought governments, the private sector and development partners to highlight strategic projects and key energy sector reforms. The pitches highlight the scale of clean energy in these countries’ energy plans. The fifth African Energy Marketplace theme, held virtually between 26 and 29 October, was Identifying opportunities across the energy value chain: Resolving bottlenecks and unlocking investments in Cameroon, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tunisia.
- Cameroon announced that it had launched an agency to manage its electricity transmission system, Société National de Transport de l’Electricité, or SONATREL. The country believes that this will support its vision of attracting around $10.6 billion in investments to meet its energy access goals. The country plans to produce 80 per cent of its energy from hydro, 14 per cent from gas, and 6 per cent from solar, wind and biomass. “If we are able to develop robust transmission infrastructure, we should be able to achieve universal access to electricity,” said Gaston Eloundou Essomba, the country’s Minister of Water and Energy.
- Guinea’s interim Secretary-General for the Ministry of Energy, Sékou Sanfina Diakite, noted that the country plans to be an electricity trading hub in the region and is already developing several interconnection projects. Guinea’s plans to export electricity in the sub-region are bolstered by the West Africa Power Pool’s plan to establish Electricité de Guinée as the transmission system operator for the region’s Zone 5, which includes Sierra Leone and Liberia. Guinea plans to source all of its energy from hydro and solar.
- In Kenya, the discussions centred on the need to urgently rebalance risks in power purchase agreements that have led to high tariffs for end-users, calls for accelerated reforms, and models to scale up electricity access. Mark Carrato, the coordinator of USAID’s Power Africa program, stated, “an essential transmission line with a greater return would draw national pension funds, and there are big pots of money out there we have just not tapped enough.”
- Dr Antonio Saide, CEO of FUNAE (Fundo de Energia(le lien est externe)) Mozambique, announced that the government had recently launched the first call for applications for green mini-grid initiatives under the BRILHO program. The program aims to accelerate Mozambique’s off-grid energy market via a unique mix of structured non-reimbursable funding and technical support to de-risk business models to achieve competitive commercial returns and provide off-grid energy solutions to low-income markets.
- The Tunisian government says its Solar Plan is a key part of its recovery plans. Belhassen Chiboub, the Director-General in the Ministry of Energy, stated, “it is imperative to restore Tunisia’s energy independence, as the country has witnessed growing – and expensive – deficits in its energy balance over the past two decades.” The Tunisian Solar Plan will deploy 3.8GW of clean energy capacity by 2030.
Stakeholders who attended the sessions included Power Africa, the European Investment Bank, Africa50, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the European Union, the World Bank, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Agence Francaise de Développement, German development agency GIZ, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Africa Infrastructure Development Association (AfIDA), the Islamic Investment Bank and IRENA.
African Development Bank Vice President Dr Kevin Kariuki stated that the AEMP focused on five African countries selected based on geographical balance, demand, and readiness for private sector investments in the power sector. “The AEMP culminated in the presentation of implementable action plans with firm commitments agreed between the various stakeholders to support the scale-up of private sector investments in the five countries,” he added.