AfDB Supports U.S.$ 810 Million CIF Allocations to Africa

19 November 2010
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

Nigeria and Niger are among the latest developing nations to gain financing support from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) to advance their nations' clean energy and climate resilience initiatives. Nigeria's USD 250 million investment plan to develop renewable energy under the CIF's Clean Technology Fund (CTF) was endorsed, and Niger was awarded USD 110 million in grants and highly concessional loans to improve climate resilience and food security under the CIF's Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR).

These decisions were taken at the CIF governing bodies' annual meetings from 5-12 November in Washington, D.C. The African Development Bank (AfDB) was there to support the cases for Nigeria and Niger, as well as to present jointly with the World Bank the ambitious South African wind power and concentrated solar power project, provisionally approved by the Committee pending appraisal for technical and cost specifications. It promises to expand the South African clean energy landscape significantly. CIF resources to this project, estimated at around USD 350 million are expected to leverage an additional USD 850 million in co-financing from several financiers. The Bank is channeling USD 100 million CTF funding and an additional USD 260 million in co-financing to the project.

Morocco's 500 MW concentrated solar power plant in Ouarzazate, expected to be largest in the world once it goes into operation in 2014, also received strong support at the meeting. It is just the first project of a much larger program that envisions multiple solar plants clustered in the MENA region to help drive down technology costs and launch a globally important climate change mitigation technology. In addition to Ouarzazate, the Bank is implementing projects under this program in Egypt and Tunisia with USD 250 million CTF funding. Algeria and Jordan are also participating.

Contacts

Mafalda Duarte

Read the original article on African Development Bank (AfDB).

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