African Development Bank Group approves LEAF program to promote investment in decentralized renewable energy
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Wednesday approved the Leveraging Energy Access Finance Framework (LEAF), under which the Bank will commit up to $164 million to promote decentralized renewable energy in six African countries.
The $800 million program will help spur commercial and local currency investments to scale up the activities of decentralized renewable energy companies in Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tunisia.
Under LEAF, some 18 decentralized 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.
African Development Fund extends $27.39 million grant to support development of mini grid and solar PV net metering in Ghana
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved a $27.39 million grant to Ghana for the development of renewable energy investments in the mini grid and net metering space.
The project involves the development of 35 mini grids, standalone solar photovoltaic systems in 400 schools, 200 units in healthcare centers and 100 units for community energy services centers in the Volta Lake region. It will also deploy up to 12,000 units of roof-mounted net-metered solar photovoltaic systems for public institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and selected households.
The project has leveraged co-financing from the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program, a funding window of the Climate Investment Funds, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, amounting to $28.49 million and $13.30 million, respectively.
African Development Bank sets course to close infrastructure gap with Board approval of its first public private partnerships strategic framework
The African Development Bank Group has taken a crucial step to further address the infrastructure gap in African countries, with the approval of its first strategic framework for the development of public-private partnerships. This follows approval by the Board of Directors of the Bank Group on 19 January 2022.
Africa’s infrastructure investment gap is estimated at more than $100 billion per year, affecting the living conditions of Africans and the continent’s global competitiveness. Bank experts say public-private partnerships offer an additional approach to increase private sector investments and higher levels of efficiency in the development and operation of infrastructure assets in Africa.
Guinea Bissau: African Development Bank Group president announces $30 million package for infrastructure, budget and governance support
African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina has announced a financial package of $30 million dollars to the West African nation of Guinea -Bissau.
Adesina made the announcement on Friday during a visit to Bissau, where he met President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and senior government officials. Discussions covered a range of strategic issues, including strengthening the already close cooperation between the African Development Bank and the Government of Guinea-Bissau, as well as ongoing and future Bank-financed strategic projects to support the country’s economic transformation.
Following the meeting with Embaló, Adesina told reporters that the African Development Bank had earmarked $30 million in financing for projects in Guinea-Bissau. Of this amount, he said $14 million would be allocated to building road networks between Guinea Bissau and Senegal, while $8.7 million and $7 million would go to budget support and capacity building, and government reforms, respectively.
Liberia: African Development Bank extends $10 million grant to enhance climate information systems
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $10 million grant from the Green Climate Fund, for which the Bank is the accredited agency, to improve Liberia’s early warning weather systems.
The project will also receive $431,969 from the Bank’s ClimDev Africa Special Fund and $1 million from the government of Liberia. The funding will strengthen the country’s capacity to produce tailored, sector-specific climate information services for the benefit of the most vulnerable. Weather disasters cost the country around $6.17 million each year, a figure that is expected to almost double in the next decade, and triple by 2040 under the baseline scenario.
Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, said: “Liberia will be better equipped to generate and disseminate accurate climate and weather information for climate change mitigation and early warning, food security, water security and environmental protection. These improvements will enable us to understand how disaster losses occur and how to avoid them in the future, saving lives and preventing economic losses.”
Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu, AfCFTA Secretary General discuss EU-Africa cooperation and trade
Ahead of the EU-African Union Summit scheduled for 17-18 February 2022, African thought leaders stressed the importance of trade agreements and regional integration as keys to drive investment into the continent in a discussion organised by the European parliament to discuss Africa’s partnership and cooperation with the EU.
Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum, joined Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Wamkele Mene and others, to reflect on deepening Africa’s relationship during the public hearing on African trade and finance held Monday.
In a keynote address, Mene cited the EU as a model for African integration. He described a strong Africa-Europe partnership as a “win-win.” Africa’s youthful population and middle class presented significant opportunities for European businesses, he said, stressing the pharmaceutical, automobile and agro-processing sectors as hungry for investment.
Mozambique: $47.09 million grant from African Development Fund for special agro-industrial processing zone
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $47.09 million grant for the first phase of Mozambique’s Pemba-Lichinga Integrated Development Corridor, a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
The grant, from the African Development Fund, will help improve agricultural productivity and agribusiness development in the Niassa province by advancing institutional capacity, skills, and entrepreneurship to spur agricultural value chain growth.
The project will pilot improved policy and development coordination between the Niassa province and national departments, especially with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
African Development Bank Board approves $170 million for investment in Nigeria’s digital and creative start-ups
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a loan of $170 million to finance a digital and creative enterprises program in Nigeria.
The investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Program (i-DICE) is a Federal Government of Nigeria initiative promoting investment in digital and creative industries. It is part of Nigeria’s efforts to build back better, greener, and more inclusively, to create more sustainable jobs for the teeming youthful population.
The program targets more than 68 million Nigerians aged 15 to 35 years who are recognized as leaders of innovative, early-stage, technology-enabled start-ups or as leaders of creative sector micro, small and medium sized enterprises. The program is co-financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
African Development Fund grants $1.5 million to Smart Africa Alliance to strengthen the policy environment for digital trade and e-commerce across Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $1.5 million grant to assess policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems in 10 countries in Africa.
The funds, sourced from the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional window, will go to the Smart Africa Alliance, an alliance of 32 African countries, international organisations and global corporations with a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030.
African Development Bank loans Nigeria $210 million for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones
A $210 million loan approved by the African Development Bank’s Board of Directors on Monday could impact the lives of millions of people in Africa’s most populous country. The loan will co-finance Phase 1 of the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone Program. The program will help to unlock Nigeria’s agriculture sector potential. It will promote industrialization through the development of strategic crops and livestock.
African Development Bank financing for this program represents one of the Bank’s most ambitious operations in terms of scale and scope to date. It is made up of an African Development Bank loan of $160 million and an Africa Growing Together Fund loan of $50 million. Phase 1 of the project will target seven Nigerian states and the country’s Federal Capital Territory.
The project will support Nigeria’s efforts to raise agricultural productivity, promote investment, create wealth and jobs, and transform rural areas into corridors of economic prosperity. Its first phase will be implemented with co-financing from other partners in the amount of $538.05 million.