Alex Rose-Innes
DURING a conference of various supreme governing bodies at an international convention, experts discussed best practices on renewable project development in Africa.
This was done to further engagement with the private sector and also identified obstacles for obtaining financing. Ideas were exchanged to mitigate technical renewable energy project risks.
Al Hamdou Dorsouma, the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Division Manager for Climate Adaptation and Green Growth, explained the Bank’s activities and initiatives in order to address project challenges across the continent. “One of the biggest challenges facing the continent is the lack of bankable projects,” he told delegates and highlighted the Bank involvement with project development companies and project preparation funds.
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, a US $90-million multi-donor facility paved the way for unlocking private investments in sustainable energy projects by way of project preparation grants, equity investments to grow the capital and managerial capacity and enabling environment grants to public sector institutions.
Dorsouma stressed the need for private sector engagement in project development to achieve climate goals. He also addressed the importance of the latest technology tools such as Project Navigator and other IRENA project facilitation initiatives. “There is a natural link between renewable knowledge expertise and the AfDB’s financing instruments for renewable energy,” he added.
The Bank would be instrumental in launching the Africa Investment Forum to unite governments, private investors and other relevant partners in order to address bottlenecks to investment, discuss investment opportunities and agree on roadmaps making transactions happen.
