World Bank approves additional $22.5m funding to project to promote solar products in Western and Central Africa
The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved additional $22.5 million financing to the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) –in the form of grants from the International Development Association (IDA) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF)— to support the development of the market for stand-alone solar products in Western and Central Africa, including a dedicated effort for the Sahel countries.
This complements the $150 million of IDA and $67.2 million CTF approved by the Board in April 2019 for this project, the Bank said in a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.
According to the Bank, the project will support activities to accelerate the deployment of stand-alone solar products, in a sub-region where 50 per cent of the population does not have access to electricity, and where less than 3 per cent of the population uses such innovative technologies.
“It seeks to harmonize policies and standards as well as business procedures to develop a regional market of stand-alone solar products, support entrepreneurs in business acceleration activities, and provide credits and grants for the deployment of stand-alone solar home systems,” the Bank added.
The Bank indicateds that the Project’s geographic scope covers 19 countries in Western and Central Africa, 15 of which are members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo), as well as Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, and Mauritania.
The release says through this additional funding and restructuring, the ECOWAS has been appointed as a new implementing agency of the project, which will work on developing a regional market, and supporting activities for entrepreneurs.
ECOWAS will coordinate the project activities with the West African Development Bank (BOAD), the other implementing agency of the project, which will support the provision of a line of credit with commercial banks operating in the sub-region, it said.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi