Hohoe (V/R), March 13, - The
African Development Bank has entered into partnership with the International
Solar Alliance (ISA) to scale up solar energy in Africa to boost its
"Light Up" and power initiative.
The Bank and ISA will jointly
support technical assistance and knowledge transfer for solar development and
deployment in sun-shine rich African countries.
The parties will also develop
finance instruments for off-grid solar projects, as well as large-scale solar
independent power producers for African ISA member countries, a release to the
Ghana News Agency said.
As part of the new agreement, ISA
will support the African Development Bank’s Desert to Power solar initiative
–through which the Bank intends to turn Africa's deserts into new sources of
energy.
Working with partners to develop
10,000 MW of solar power systems across the Sahel, the initiative is expected
to provide electricity to 250 million people, with 90 million of these being on
off-grid systems.
The partnership agreement was
sealed on the margins of the Founding Conference of the International Solar
Alliance (ISA) held in New Delhi on March 11.
The Conference was co-chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and President Emmanuel Macron of France.
Amadou Hott, Vice President,
Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the AfDB said “This signing is an
important milestone for the Bank in its efforts to lead the continent’s
transformation towards sustainable energy, through the use of solar
technologies, and in its bid to reach universal access to energy in
Africa."
In his opening remarks at the
Conference, President Macron identified the three top priorities of ISA as the
identification of solar projects, mobilization of public and private finance at
scale with a focus on guarantee instruments, and transfer of innovative
technology solutions and capacity building.
Prime Minister Modi said there is
the need to ensure that better and affordable solar technology is available and
accessible to everyone.
The joint declaration recognizes
the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa, its energy policy and its leadership
in working with governments, the private sector, and bilateral and multilateral
energy sector initiatives to develop a Transformative Partnership on Energy for
Africa.
The declaration lays out areas of
deeper cooperation between ISA and the Bank, including developing innovative
financial instruments to reduce risks and costs associated with solar
investments and to leverage climate financing and commercial co-financing and
mobilizing concessional financing through the Sustainable Energy Fund for
Africa (SEFA) and other Bank-hosted funds.
About 50 countries were
represented by heads of state/government and ministers including 11 African
Presidents and several African prime ministers, who were joined by solar
manufacturers, developers, financial institutions, green funds, innovators,
start-ups and NGOs.
The International Solar Alliance
initiative was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in
November 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French President
Francois Hollande.
The Alliance is a collaborative
platform and a coalition of solar resource rich countries designed to address
their special energy needs through a common and agreed approach.
Thirty-two of the 60-member
countries who have joined the alliance are from Africa.
GNA
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