G5 Sahel heads of state at a Summit on Friday in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso, gave strong support to Desert to Power, an Africa Development
Bank-led initiative.
The summit, "Harnessing solar energy for the socio-economic
development of the G5 Sahel countries" came on the heels of a high-level
technical meeting attended by the region’s energy ministers, and development
partners including the World Bank, and regional institutions such as the West
African Economic and Monetary Union and ECOWAS.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Executive Chairman of
the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, participated in the high-level
meeting and endorsed the initiative.
Addressing journalists, the G5 Sahel President Christian Kabore
of Burkina Faso urged the private sector to support the Desert to Power and
underscored the strategic and critical role of power provision in the Sahel
region.
“The African Development Bank is our bank and the private sector
must be involved in this important initiative for our countries. I have no
doubt that with technical leadership of the AfDB, we will be able to mobilize
the necessary funds. Access to electricity is key for the economic development,
prosperity and security of the G5 Sahel countries” Kabore said at a joint press
conference hosted with the President of the African Development Bank Group,
Akinwumi Adesina, after the Summit.
The goal of Desert to Power is to propel the Sahelian economies
to higher growth and prosperity.
Adesina outlined the initiative’s ambitions of providing 10,000
MW of solar-generated electricity to 250 million people across the Sahel.
“The African Development
Bank is fully ready to work with all partners to make this Baobab of Energy a
success. Your strong political support and policies to make solar energy
affordable across the Sahel will be critical,” Adesina said.
“Generations of people in the Sahel have waited for light for
too long. Generations today and in the future can wait no longer! The time for
action is now. The time for Desert to Power to provide electricity for all in
the Sahel is now,” he urged.
G5 Sahel heads of state acknowledged that limited energy access
and a dependence on fossil fuels underscores the necessity of an energy shift
and the need to accelerate the economic development of the region and ensure
its stability.
Five priority areas for the G5 Sahel include expanded utility-scale solar generation
capacity; extending and strengthening power transmission networks; accelerating
electrification through decentralized energy solutions; revitalizing national
power utilities; and improving business climates for increased private sector
investments.
A joint Task Force and a coordination unit, to be hosted by the
African Developmemnt Bank, will be set up to improve legal and institutional
frameworks, to ensure that priority in energy provision is given to rural
communities.
Donor and development partners were asked to help mobilise $140
million for the initiatives project preparation phase.
Desert to Power has already galvanized huge political support at
the global level. during the recent G7 Summit in Biarritz, France.
The Desert to Power initiative covers 11 countries: Burkina
Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Djibouti,
Senegal and Chad and is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Renewable Energy Initiative for
Africa.
“If the Sahel is blessed with this super abundant natural
resource, it simply means God intended for us to have electricity. 100% through
the sun. it is, therefore, time to turn the Sahel’s largest natural resource –
the sun – into the most powerful driver of its growth and prosperity. That is
why we are here,” Adesina said.
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