World Bank releases $200 million for off-grid energy access in West Africa
The World Bank Group has approved a $200m fund to implement the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP) in West Africa and Sahel region.
The fund includes $150 million in the form of credit and grant from the International Development Association (IDA) and $74.7 million contingent recovery grant from the Clean Technology Fund.
ROGEP primarily seeks to promote a harmonized regional market that provides the incentive for the proliferation of stand-alone solar equipment to homes, businesses, and communities without access to electrical grid infrastructure.
About 19 countries are expected to benefit from this financing, the main objective of which is to improve access to electricity.
These are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Only 3% of households in West Africa and the Sahel are connected to an autonomous solar home system. In the same region, 208 million people are deprived of electricity.
The World Bank estimates that the financing should provide electricity to about 1.7 million people as well as businesses and public institutions that will use modern stand-alone solar systems to improve their living standards and economic activities.
