AfDB commits $303m for Mauritania-Mali electricity interconnection project

The African Development Bank (AfDB), through its African Development Fund (ADF), has approved a $303 million loan for the building of a 1,500 km-long power line interconnecting Mauritania and Mali, as part of the Desert to Power Initiative.

The project requires $888 million and involves the construction of a 225 kV high-voltage line between Mali and Mauritania with a 600 megawatt (MW) transfer capacity between the two countries.
The power line per descriptions will be built in three lots, one in Mali and two in Mauritania, for a total length of 1,500 km. AfDB has included it in its ‘Desert to Power Initiative’ as it features two solar power plants, each with a capacity of 50 MWp, and which will be built in Kiffa and Néma in Mauritania.

The bank, which deems the project strategic, argues that it will enable 100,000 new households (80,000 in Mauritania and 20,000 in Mali) to be connected to the electricity grid in the localities crossed by the cable. In addition, the project will create opportunities for agricultural entrepreneurship and services for young people and women.

This project forms part of the regional roadmap approved by the countries that will benefit from the Desert to Power Initiative. It is the first section of the trans-Sahel spine aimed at linking Mauritania to Chad via Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. The interconnection will enable the development of new renewable power plants, whose production will be more closely integrated into interconnected grids. Commissioning it will facilitate access to a high-quality, low-carbon electricity supply at an affordable price.

The ‘Desert to Power initiative’ aims to harness the Sahel’s solar potential by developing an installed capacity of 10,000 MW. The 11 beneficiary countries include Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.