The World Bank on Thursday, March 11, approved a total of $22.5 million in additional financing to the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP).
The approved amount forms grants from the International Development Association (IDA) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to support the development of the market for stand-alone solar products in Western and Central Africa.
It is also to complement some $217.2 million approved by the Board of the World Bank in April 2019 for the same project.
ROGEAP seeks to support activities that will accelerate the deployment of stand-alone solar products in the sub-region where 50 percent of the population do not have access to electricity, and where less than 3 percent of the population use such innovative technologies.
It further seeks to harmonize policies and standards as well as business procedures to develop a regional market of stand-alone solar products, support entrepreneurs in business acceleration activities, and provide credits and grants for the deployment of stand-alone solar home systems.
“Stand-alone solar systems have a large market potential in Western and Central Africa including in the Sahel, but investments in off-grid solutions have lagged behind in the sub-region”, said Ms. Deborah Wetzel, World Bank Director of Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
“The new financing will help address the important growth in demand for reliable electricity and will help create jobs for the millions of people currently living without an electricity connection or with unreliable supply, as well as for businesses and public institutions who will use modern stand-alone solar systems to improve their living standards and economic activities,” she added.
The project is expected to contribute to human capital development by electrifying public health centers and schools which are needed to improve health and education outcomes.
It will support job creation, for instance in the farming communities which can use solar water pumps for irrigation, solar milling equipment for product transformation, and solar refrigerators to bring products to market. The project will also support the small and innovative business enterprises through solar home systems and will make an impact in economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aside Ghana, other African countries that stand to benefit from the additional funding include; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Mauritania.
