The World Bank Group, through its Scaling Solar programme, and the government of Côte d’Ivoire have signed an agreement to help the West African country develop its supply of affordable, reliable clean energy.
Côte d’Ivoire has plans to reach at least 42% of its power from renewable sources by 2030.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, signed the agreement with the government of Côte d’Ivoire to help the country, one of West Africa’s largest economies, develop 60MW of grid-connected solar power through two public-private partnership (PPP) projects, which will power thousands of homes and businesses in the country.
Abdourahmane Cissé, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy, said: “Developing and diversifying our energy supply is a top priority for Côte d’Ivoire as we grow our economy and increase the number of countries to which we export electricity. In accordance with our COP21 climate change commitments, Scaling Solar will help us tap our abundant solar resources and bring clean power to the people of Côte d’Ivoire, especially those in rural areas.”
Aliou Maiga, IFC Regional Director for West and Central Africa, added “Scaling Solar has set a new standard for developing solar power in Africa while consistently reducing its costs. The World Bank Group programme will help Côte d’Ivoire diversify its sources of power generation, opening up new markets for clean energy production and distribution, and bringing clean, affordable energy to the largest economy in the West Africa Economic and Monetary zone.”
Under the agreement with Côte d’Ivoire, Scaling Solar will support the development, tendering, and financing of two utility projects in the country, which has West Africa’s third-largest electrical system with an installed generation capacity of 2,200MW.
The planned utility-scale solar photovoltaic installations will complement other planned solar projects to help Côte d’Ivoire achieve its goal of generating 400MW of solar power by 2030, contributing to climate change mitigation.
Côte d’Ivoire joins Zambia, Senegal, Togo, Madagascar, and Uzbekistan as members of the Scaling Solar programme, which provides a package of transaction structuring advice, project documents, risk management products, finance, and insurance to support solar energy projects.
Scaling Solar is supported by USAID’s Power Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and the Infrastructure Development Collaboration Partnership Fund.