While 600 million Africans still do not have access to electricity, a new initiative could change the situation on the African continent over the next six years. It involves an unprecedented partnership signed recently between the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank. The agreement was signed in Washington at the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Electricity access is a human right and crucial for development. @WorldBank Group and @AfDB_Group aim to give power to 300M Africans by 2030.
Watch the #WBGMeetings event replay to learn more: https://t.co/tjFnUVxvLU pic.twitter.com/h3L0fP9ggo
— World Bank (@WorldBank) April 22, 2024
As part of the new partnership for electrification in Africa, the World Bank has committed to financing 30 billion dollars to reach at least 250 million Africans by 2030. Announcing this partnership on 17 April 2024 to the heads of other multilateral development banks (MDBs) present in the American capital, Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, pointed out that “access to electricity is the foundation of all development. It is a critical ingredient for economic growth and essential for large-scale job creation. Our aspiration will only be realised with partnership and ambition”.
Public sector funding
He added that “we will need political action from governments, funding from multilateral development banks and investment from the private sector to achieve this”. The funds announced will be invested in the public sector through the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional arm for low-income countries.
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The World Bank estimates that the $30 billion mobilised for the public sector will catalyse $9 billion in private investment, mainly in grid-connected renewable energy. For its part, the AfDB will mobilise the resources needed to electrify 50 million Africans by 2030. Together, the two banks promise to support the electrification of 300 million people over the next six years.
The two MDBs have already co-financed several electrification initiatives across Africa. The World Bank and AfDB, for example, mobilised $550 million in 2018 for the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), which focuses on the deployment of off-grid solar systems in rural Nigeria.
Jean Marie Takouleu