The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that it will provide an undisclosed sum to co-finance Burkina Faso’s plans to electrify several rural areas in the period 2017-2021. The announcement was given on the occasion of an official three-day visit of Burkina Faso by Adesina, which received the Burkinabe head of state Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
“We have high expectations from the input of the African Development Bank. We wish to cooperate even more, so as to boast the highest number of Burkinabe who have access to electricity. Furthermore, we wish to pursue agricultural projects that keep people busy, especially in rural areas and particularly young people.” Kaboré explained to the AfDB.
During the above-mentioned period, the African financial institution will provide funds to support a dorsal northern electric interconnection with the aim of connecting Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin. Furthermore, the AfDB will grant budgetary support to the construction of several large-scale PV projects with a combined capacity of 50 MW in Burkina Faso. These projects, the AfDB added, are also being co-financed by the French Development Agency (Agence Française de development).
Furthermore, the AfDB explained, solar will also be adopted in school and sanitary infrastructures, with the installation of solar pumps in rural areas, solar lamps in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso with a dorsal electric interconnection project connecting Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali.
A 33 MW solar plant is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in August. The project is being financed by France’s Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union with €22.5 million and €25 million funds respectively. Upon its completion, the Zagtouli plant will supply 5% – about 55 GWh per year – of the country’s total electricity consumption at a very competitive price, said the AFD.
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