Energy & Power

UNIVERSAL ENERGY ACCESS AND A CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION

With an active portfolio of energy projects totalling over USD 12 billion, the Bank is a key stakeholder and influencer in supporting access to clean and affordable energy across the African continent.

The New Deal on Energy for Africa aims at achieving universal energy access, with priority given to low-carbon technologies which harness the abundant, hydro, solar, geothermal and wind resources of the continent. Investments in power generation, inter-connections, transmission and distribution are critical to unlocking Africa’s vast economic potential, enabling the growth of value-adding industries and services, and helping to improve regional integration through pooled resources.

Pursuing the Strategy for the New Deal on Energy for Africa launched in 2016, the Bank approved a total of USD 7.2 billion from its own resources (public: 80%; private: 20%) and mobilized USD 850 million in co-financing resources over the 2016-2020 period. These commitments are expected to:

• Increase power generation capacity by an additional 3 GW of installed generation capacity, of which 2.2 GW is from renewable energy sources.
• Support grid reinforcement and extension with the construction of over 7,000 km of transmission lines, of which 3,000 km are regional interconnections to facilitate regional integration and power trade. In addition, some 65,000 km of distribution lines with associated substations were financed which will enable access to electricity for about 12 million people.
• Stimulate the market for decentralized energy solutions, with 3 million people gaining off-grid energy access notably through Solar Home Systems (SHS) and Green Mini Grids.

In the period 2015-2020, over 20 million people gained new or improved electricity connections.

The Bank is also driving important initiatives to scale-up investments in the sector and build resilience:

• The Desert-to-Power initiative (DtP) DtP aims to accelerate economic development in the Sahel region through the deployment of solar technologies at scale.
• The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), converted into a blended finance facility in 2019, with a new Green Baseload (GBL) component and enhanced financing capability and over USD 150 million in new donor commitments.
• The Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP): A platform supporting action-oriented policy dialogue between governments, private sector, and partners with aim of enabling sector reforms and fast-tracking projects. The last 2020 edition was dedicated to supporting DtP G5 Sahel countries and in 2021 five more countries will be on-boarded
• The Sustainable Utility Transformation (SUT) agenda: Collaboration with RMCs, utilities, power pools, and development partners to improve the performance and viability of utilities.
• The Facility for Energy Inclusion investment platform is expected to finance 35 to 50 projects, deliver ~300 MW new capacity and add 3.3 million off-grid connections by 2030.