Nigeria among 13 countries to bid for World Bank, AfDB $40bn electricity funding

The World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) have announced terms for African countries to secure $40 billion in power finance under the ‘Mission 300’ programme.

According to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday, the initiative is aimed at providing electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.

The publication said the goal of the programme is to connect half of the continent’s population through national grid-linked power projects, and the remainder via off-grid technologies such as solar mini-grids.

It also said the programme pledges $30 billion in finance from the banks, with an additional $10 billion expected from private institutions.

The banks expect to gain support from private developers, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and philanthropies by enhancing the profitability of renewable energy investments in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking on the investment, Wale Shonibare, director of energy and financial solutions at AfDB, said committing $5 billion to the project will collaborate with other institutions to establish guarantees and financial mechanisms to mitigate risks for private investors.

Franz Drees-Gross, World Bank director of infrastructure in Western and Central Africa said “Of the 680 million people globally without electricity access, 570 million live in sub-Saharan Africa”.

“Against that backdrop, and also very high population growth in Africa, that’s making it very difficult to make progress in increasing coverage,” Drees-Gross said.

“If you’re going to reform African energy sectors, you have to make deep and sometimes politically difficult reforms.”

The report added that participating countries must implement regulations to attract private investment and commit to using the lowest-cost electricity – typically renewable energy.

Countries are also expected to run competitive tenders for power generation projects and ensure utilities charge sufficient prices to cover operating costs.

Also, countries must outline plans to achieve universal power access.

The report said 13 countries will present their plans at the Mission 300 energy summit to be held in Tanzania at the end of January.

Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and Ivory Coast are among the countries presenting their plans at the conference.