African Development Bank (AfDB) has entered into a new partnership agreement with the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), which will deepen their cooperation on the Desert to Power initiative.
The Desert to Power solar initiative is aimed at turning Africa into a renewable energy homeland, whereas about 11 countries, including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad are beneficiaries.
Desert to Power stretches across the Sahel region, connecting 250 million people with electricity by tapping into the region’s abundant solar resources. Its objective is to make the region the world’s largest solar production zone with up to 10,000mw of solar generation capacity and speed up economic development through the deployment of solar technology.
PIDG is an innovative infrastructure project developer and investor which mobilises private investment in sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia.
Its investments promote socio-economic development within a just transition to net zero emissions, combat poverty and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Since 2002, PIDG has supported 190 infrastructure projects to financial close, which provided an estimated 220 million people with access to new or improved infrastructure.
The group is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Germany and the Internal Finance Corporation (IFC).
At the Africa Energy Forum which was rounded off last week in Brussels, Belgium, a Letter of Intent in which both parties agreed to deepen their cooperation on the initiative was signed.
PIDG on an indicative, non-binding basis, committed to allocate a total of $300 million towards the initiative. AfDB’s Vice President for power, energy, climate and green growth, Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the Chief executive officer (CEO) of InfraCo, Gilles Vaes, who represented PIDG signed on behalf of the parties.
The signing was done during the session that featured as a side event at the Forum, under the theme, “Accelerating private sector investments in the G5 Sahel – leveraging the Desert to Power Financing Facility”.
It was aimed at engaging the private sector on the financial resources needed for the innovative Desert to Power G5 Sahel Financing Facility, which forms part of the broader energy Initiative.
Following the signing, Kariuki expressed hopes that the partnership between PIDG and the Bank would bring increased financing and expertise towards the realization of the Desert to Power initiative.
On his part, CEO of PIDG said he was delighted about the signing. “This will build on the existing partnership and further strengthen the collaboration between the Bank and PIDG on co-financing solar projects in the Sahel region”, he added.
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