SPECIAL REPORT
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
estimates the cost-effective potential for renewable energy
in Africa at 310 GW by 2030.
The falling cost of renewable energy technologies
has made renewables much more competitive. The
transformative power of renewable energy is already
evident in a variety of countries such as Cape Verde,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa. By 2025,
further signifi cant cost reductions are expected (60% in
solar PV, 45% in CSP and on-shore wind and 35% for
off-shore wind).
Investments in renewables are increasing. However,
current investment levels need to be scaled up to exploit
the full cost-effective potential
for renewables in the continent
by 2030. IRENA estimates that
tapping this potential would
require an annual investment
of $32 billion for renewables
generation capacity.
The African Development
Bank is, therefore, increasing its
support for energy access, working
with Governments on integrated
energy access plans looking at
all the options: grid extension,
mini-grids and solar home system
solutions. We are also working on
rural electrifi cation projects and on
facilitating last mile energy access.
For example, Transformative
Kenya – Last Mile Connectivity
Project (Phase II of $154 million
approved in 2016) provides
300,000 new connections and capacity building activities.
In addition, the Côte d’Ivoire Power Transmission and
Distribution Networks Reinforcement Project, approved
in 2016, will result in 205 km of transmission lines,
2,801 km of distribution lines and 20,000 households
connected in rural areas. We have three large transmission
interconnection projects (Cameroon-Chad, Guinea-Mali.
and Nigeria-Niger-Benin-Burkina) scheduled for Board
approval in December 2017. These projects include
electrifi cation components along the transmission lines
and will collectively contribute to some 436,000 new
electricity connections.
On mini-grids, we have launched a market development
programme, including a dedicated developer helpdesk
and an Africa mini-grid strategy. On off-grid, Africa is
leapfrogging towards distributed energy systems in rural
areas in a similar way to Africa’s direct adoption of mobile
telephony. To resolve the challenges that remain, the
African Development Bank has launched the ‘Off-Grid
Revolution’ to connect 75 million African households
through off-grid solutions by 2025.
The Bank is supporting landmark transactions with
leading off-grid companies using innovative instruments
to unlock local currency capital. A fi rst transaction for
the deployment of solar home systems to reach 350,000
households in Cote d’Ivoire is currentl y being prepared,
and other transactions are in the pipeline.
Togo is the fi rst country to receive fi nancing under
the Off-Grid Revolution initiative. The objective is to
enable the off-grid market in the country and deploy
300,000 solar home systems in
rural areas within 5 years. In
Burkina Faso, the Bank is working
with the Agence Française de
Development (AFD) to develop
an ambitious solar investment
programme with fi nancing from
the Green Climate Fund as part
of the Desert-to-Power initiative
that will combine on-grid and off-
grid solutions, agricultural value
chains and resilience to climate
change elements that promote
local development opportunities
in the Sahel zone. The Bank is also
supporting the training of African
entrepreneurs and manufacturers
to accelerate off-grid deployment
at scale. For this purpose, we are
launching the Access to Electricity
Institute.
Lastly, the Bank recently approved a $100 million
anchor investment in the $500 million Facility for Energy
Inclusion to close funding gaps in the small-scale energy
infrastructure sector and stimulate growth in last-mile
energy access solutions.
The FEI will offer debt instruments from $2 million to
$20 million, targeting project sizes of less than $30 million.
It will have an off-grid window of about $100 million to
provide short- and medium-term debt instruments to off-
grid providers and an on-grid window of $400 million to
provide project fi nance loans to small-scale Independent
Power Producers and mini-grids.
The share of renewable energy projects of the Bank’s
power generation investments jumped from 14 percent
in 2007-2011 to 64 percent in 2012-2016. In 2017, 100
percent of the 1400 MW energy generation fi nanced by
the Bank was based on renewable energy sources.
COMESA• 2018 8 • 13