Determined to improve energy development on the continent, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is spending $12 billion in Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad over four years (2016-2020), according to reports.
The announcement was made on April 9, 2018 by Serge Marie N’Guessan, AfDB Country Representative for Senegal in the capital, Dakar, at a two-day renewable energy forum. The objective is to provide power for household use, Small and Medium size Enterprises, pumping water for livestock farming, irrigation, agricultural production zones and mitigating the effects of climate change by developing solar energy in desert parts of Africa.
The bank is also soliciting the support of other financial institutions to boost financing for the programme. Dubbed “Transform the desert into energy,” the programme is also financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) along the so-called Sahel Green Wall. Apart from AfDB, AFD funding “Transform the desert into energy,” other partners are International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, Solar Plaza, and private sector and technical concerns.