INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
Technology and innovative
finance key to reaching end users
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N
ew technology and blended
finance will help to bridge the ‘last
mile’ of the infrastructure gap by
getting goods and services to end users
and connecting underserved populations to
business value chains,
That is according to the African
Development Bank during a session at the
Global Infrastructure Forum 2018.
Wale Shonibare, African Development
Bank’s Director for Energy Financial
Solutions, Policy and Regulation, said the
bank’s commitment to connect millions of
households under its ‘New Deal on Energy
for Africa’ banner – a core component of
its ‘Light Up Africa High 5’ development
priorities – required flexibility and innovation
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from both a technology and financial
perspective. “We are looking to connect
200 million households to electricity – 75
million of those will be off-grid,” said
Shonibare. “Conventional grids cost, on
average, US$2,500 per connection in rural
communities, whereas mini grids cost
between US$500 – 1,00 per connection.”
In Ivory Coast, the bank’s approval of
a credit guarantee covering part of a
guaranteed loan facility to Zola EDF Côte
d’Ivoire (ZECI), a 50/50 joint venture
between Off-Grid Electric (OGE) and EDF,
paved the way for them to provide access
to around 100,000 rural households with
pay-as-you-go solar home systems by
2020. This operation is the first large-scale
local currency financing structure using the
securitisation technique for the off-grid
renewable energy sector in Africa.
Energy projects in Rwanda and Nigeria,
which had obtained bank approval, were
additional examples of the bank partnering
with the private sector to bring service to
end users in innovative ways. Given the
remarkable improvements in the field,
Shonibare said there was no doubt as to the
role technology could play in the ‘Light Up’
drive and other key aspects of the bank’s
development agenda. Smart technologies,
creative financing models could facilitate
business and inclusiveness, improving
livelihoods across the continent.
“We have to look for more ways of scaling up
access,” said Shonibare. n
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