A Bank Group mission recently participated in a joint lenders supervision mission to the Uganda Bujagali Hydropower and Interconnection Projects. The mission included experts from several donor agencies, including specialists from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the French Development Agency (AFD). The objective of the mission was to review the status of implementation of the environmental and social management plan, including the resettlement and compensation plans for the project-affected persons. The hydropower project construction is ahead of schedule and well on track. The mission provided valuable advice and guidance to the project sponsor, Bujagali Electric Limited (BEL), on ways to make the project environmentally and socially more sustainable with specific focus on issues relating to women and other vulnerable groups, sustainable management of forests, livelihood improvement of affected communities, better management of HIV/AIDS issues, water quality, vector and water-borne diseases.
Meanwhile, the Project Finance Magazine last week named the Bujagali hydropower project in Uganda as Africa's power deal of the year. The 250-Megawatt power plant is expected to provide energy solutions to the power crisis affecting the country over the years. The country's energy crisis has been a major constraint on its efforts to attain economic growth and sustainable development. Financed by many development partners including the African Development Bank Group and the World Bank, the Bujagali project is a model of the kind of innovative funding solutions and partnerships that will help resolve the country's energy crises.
The board of directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, recently approved a loan of UA 19.21 million, equivalent to US$ 29 million, to finance the Bujagali Power Interconnection Project (BIP). The loan approval comes on the heels of two previous loans totalling US$ 110 million that had been approved for the same project.
