More than $ 2 billion have been deployed by African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and other donors this year to support green electricity startups in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
In February, AfDB approved the Leveraging Energy Access Finance Framework (LEAF), under which the Bank will commit up to $164 million to promote decentralised renewable energy in six African countries. The $800 million programme will help spur commercial and local currency investments to scale up the activities of decentralised renewable energy companies in Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tunisia. Under LEAF, some 18 decentralised renewable energy projects are expected to be financed, providing access to six million people and businesses, resulting in 28.8 million tonnes CO2 eq. in greenhouse gas emission reductions over the lifetime of the systems.
The AfDB developed the LEAF programme, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, which approved $170.9 million in concessional financing for it in July last year. The framework forms part of the bank’s broader off-grid strategy under the New Deal on Energy for Africa and complements existing initiatives, such as the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina at the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) in the Tunisian capital of Tunis named renewable energy as among vital investment sectors.
AfDB manages Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a multi-donor Special Fund.
Article first published here