Out-Law News 2 min. read
22 Mar 2017, 10:46 am
The grant, from the African Development Bank (AfDB)-managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa), is to support “the creation of an enabling policy, institutional and regulatory framework, as well as direct support to project development and financing”.
“Specifically, the SEFA-funded project will support the preparation of an appropriate policy and regulatory framework... feasibility studies and structure a tender process to attract the most suitable investors,” the AfDB said.
The bank did not specify what renewable energy technologies might be involved in The Gambia, but said: “The project will also provide technical and institutional capacity building, including on legal and regulatory issues, for the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the National Power Utility, the communities and other private key stakeholders.”
AfDB renewable energy division manager Engedasew Negash Habtemichael said the investment programme “will be key to providing energy to all rural households and businesses, thus laying the foundations for sustainable economic development”.
According to the AfDB, electricity access in The Gambia currently stands at around 40% nationwide and 12% in rural areas, “and is mostly powered by fossil fuel generation, which translates into one of the highest consumer tariffs in the region”.
The bank said Gambia’s government “is interested in realising the opportunity of ‘greening’ its power sector by incorporating renewable energy in the country’s energy mix”, with the aim of providing access to electricity for the country’s 1.91 million population by 2030.
Sefa, which was launched in 2012, is a $95m multi-donor facility funded by the governments of Denmark, the UK, the US and Italy. The facility supports sustainable energy development in Africa through grants to help prepare medium-scale renewable energy generation and energy efficiency projects, in addition to equity investments to bridge the financing gap for small- and medium-scale renewable energy generation projects.
As of 31 January 2017, the AfDB’s portfolio in The Gambia consisted of five national public-sector operations, with a total commitment value equivalent to $44.15 million, of which $18m has been disbursed to date.
In addition to national public operations, the AfDB said its portfolio includes “four public multinational operations totalling $107m, including the Trans-Gambia Bridge project valued at $85.15m”.
In 2015, the AfDB announced a package of financial support worth the equivalent of more than €121m for the Gambia River Basin Development Organization to “improve electricity access and provide renewable, clean and affordable energy in The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal”.
Meanwhile, a recent report said West Africa is becoming an increasingly attractive regional market for “dynamic impact investing’’ on the continent. The ‘Landscape for Impact Investing in West Africa’ (56-page / 1.62 MB PDF) report said the region is a “perfect example of a region where challenges and opportunities collide”.
The report by the Global Impact Investing Network and global development advisors Dalberg, supported by the UK Department for International Development’s ‘impact programme’, said energy, financial technologies and agriculture are key sectors for investment opportunities in the region.
