The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved $138.21 million in financing for Niger. This funding is intended for the construction of solar photovoltaic power plants and solar mini-grids across the country.
Niger had good news. The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has lately provided credit to this West African nation totaling $138.21 million. AfDB’s Transition Support Facility (TSF), a financing tool for fragile or transitional states, is lending $46 million of this funding. In addition to its loan, the TSF is also providing a $1.1 million grant. The AfDB Group’s concessional loan division, the African Development Fund (ADF), is contributing $48.59 million.
The same facility will offer a $41.14 million grant to match its loan. The Green Climate Fund is responsible for the remaining $1.38 million in funding (GCF). The finance package is a component of the AfDB’s Desert to Power initiative, which intends to create 10,000 MW of installed solar power in Africa.
Construction of three solar photovoltaic power plants
According to AfDB estimates, the financing approved on December 2, 2022, is expected to electrify at least 750,000 people in Niger. This West African country has an electricity access rate of less than 20% for a population estimated by the World Bank at 25 million. “The AfDB’s intervention will enable Niger to produce renewable energy at a lower cost and thus reduce its dependence on energy imports,” says Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB’s Managing Director for West Africa and Acting Vice President in charge of Regional Development, Integration and Service Delivery.
