The World Bank has in the last week approved two projects that will
boost electricity infrastructure in the African countries of Benin
and Eritria.
The Benin project will receive an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $45-million equivalent to assist the government of Benin reinforcing and expanding electrification and ensuring financial sustainability for the country’s power sector through restructuring and private sector participation in the distribution of electricity.
The Benin Electricity Services Delivery Project, as it is known, will ensure the financial sustainability of the power sector in Benin. It will involve the private sector in partnership with the public sector and expand the contribution of the power sector to economic growth and improvement in the quality of life.
The financing will also enable the building of approximately 350 km of a single circuit 161 KV system in Benin between Kara in Togo to Djougou and Parakou, and between Djougou and Nattitingou and between Parakou and Bembereke in Benin. It will build substations at Parakou and Djougou.
A second component of the project will ensure the expansion of power lines to provide electricity to several towns presently supplied by diesel generating units and 93 villages not yet electrified. This includes 35 villages along the right-of-way of the transmission lines, ensuring (by project completion) an electrification rate in Benin of about 30%, from the current electrification rate of about 22%.
In addition to these physical investments, the project will provide compensation for all that will be affected by the construction of the transmission lines, whether for loss of their habitation or their crops.
The project does not fund power generation needs in Benin, but relies on completion of the interconnection with Nigeria which should satisfy Benin’s needs for power in the near future.
The IDA credit is provided at the standard commitment fee of 0,5%, a service charge of 0,75%, and a maturity of 40 years, including a ten-year period of grace.
The government of Benin will finance other aspects of the project, whose total costs is estimated at $95,7-million for phase one, and $166,7-million for phases one and two.
Additional funding is also expected from a number of bilateral and multilateral donors, including the West African Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund.
The World Bank’s funding approval for Eritrea comes in the form of an IDA credit of $29-million and an IDA grant of $21-million in support of power distribution and rural electrification in Eritrea.
“The IDA credit and grant will promote efficiency, safety, environmental protection and financial sustainability in the power sector in Eritrea,” said Paivi Koljonen, the World Bank’s task team leader for the project.
The Eritrea Power Distribution and Rural Electrification Project, as it is known, will support the government’s power sector reform programme including the establishment in the country of a modern institutional and regulatory framework governing electricity production, transmission, distribution and sales.
“The project will expand access to electricity, improve the security of electricity supply, and strengthen institutional capacity within the energy sector,” Koljonen added, pointing out that this is particularly important in Eritrea, where access to electricity is low, the existing power distribution system is old, and sector institutions are undergoing transformation.
While 86% of urban households have access to grid electricity in Eritrea, notably within the capital Asmara, only 3% of the rural population has access.
The first of the project’s four components focuses on rehabilitating and expanding the 40-to-50 year-old Asmara Distribution System for a total $34-million, of which $29-million is IDA credit financed.
The second component aims to extend rural electrification to about 80 villages and small towns around four main towns, for a total of $16,4-million of which $12,4-million is IDA grant financed.
The third component consists of the government of Eritrea establishing a rural electrification fund to finance capital subsidies to qualifying schemes to electrify additional villages.
This component will be funded through an IDA post-conflict grant.
The fourth component will build institutional and human capacity aimed at promoting increased efficiency in power sector operations and future cooperative and private sector participation in the sector for a total of $4,7-million of which $4,5-million is IDA grant financed.
The final component aims at environmental monitoring and mitigation and is funded for a total $520 000 of which $370 000 is IDA grant financed.
The IDA credit is provided at the standard commitment fee of 0,5%, a service charge of 0,75%, and a maturity of 40 years, including a ten-year period of grace. The government of Eritrea and the Eritrean Electric Corporation will finance the remaining costs of the project.
The Benin project will receive an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $45-million equivalent to assist the government of Benin reinforcing and expanding electrification and ensuring financial sustainability for the country’s power sector through restructuring and private sector participation in the distribution of electricity.
The Benin Electricity Services Delivery Project, as it is known, will ensure the financial sustainability of the power sector in Benin. It will involve the private sector in partnership with the public sector and expand the contribution of the power sector to economic growth and improvement in the quality of life.
The financing will also enable the building of approximately 350 km of a single circuit 161 KV system in Benin between Kara in Togo to Djougou and Parakou, and between Djougou and Nattitingou and between Parakou and Bembereke in Benin. It will build substations at Parakou and Djougou.
A second component of the project will ensure the expansion of power lines to provide electricity to several towns presently supplied by diesel generating units and 93 villages not yet electrified. This includes 35 villages along the right-of-way of the transmission lines, ensuring (by project completion) an electrification rate in Benin of about 30%, from the current electrification rate of about 22%.
In addition to these physical investments, the project will provide compensation for all that will be affected by the construction of the transmission lines, whether for loss of their habitation or their crops.
The project does not fund power generation needs in Benin, but relies on completion of the interconnection with Nigeria which should satisfy Benin’s needs for power in the near future.
The IDA credit is provided at the standard commitment fee of 0,5%, a service charge of 0,75%, and a maturity of 40 years, including a ten-year period of grace.
The government of Benin will finance other aspects of the project, whose total costs is estimated at $95,7-million for phase one, and $166,7-million for phases one and two.
Additional funding is also expected from a number of bilateral and multilateral donors, including the West African Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund.
The World Bank’s funding approval for Eritrea comes in the form of an IDA credit of $29-million and an IDA grant of $21-million in support of power distribution and rural electrification in Eritrea.
“The IDA credit and grant will promote efficiency, safety, environmental protection and financial sustainability in the power sector in Eritrea,” said Paivi Koljonen, the World Bank’s task team leader for the project.
The Eritrea Power Distribution and Rural Electrification Project, as it is known, will support the government’s power sector reform programme including the establishment in the country of a modern institutional and regulatory framework governing electricity production, transmission, distribution and sales.
“The project will expand access to electricity, improve the security of electricity supply, and strengthen institutional capacity within the energy sector,” Koljonen added, pointing out that this is particularly important in Eritrea, where access to electricity is low, the existing power distribution system is old, and sector institutions are undergoing transformation.
While 86% of urban households have access to grid electricity in Eritrea, notably within the capital Asmara, only 3% of the rural population has access.
The first of the project’s four components focuses on rehabilitating and expanding the 40-to-50 year-old Asmara Distribution System for a total $34-million, of which $29-million is IDA credit financed.
The second component aims to extend rural electrification to about 80 villages and small towns around four main towns, for a total of $16,4-million of which $12,4-million is IDA grant financed.
The third component consists of the government of Eritrea establishing a rural electrification fund to finance capital subsidies to qualifying schemes to electrify additional villages.
This component will be funded through an IDA post-conflict grant.
The fourth component will build institutional and human capacity aimed at promoting increased efficiency in power sector operations and future cooperative and private sector participation in the sector for a total of $4,7-million of which $4,5-million is IDA grant financed.
The final component aims at environmental monitoring and mitigation and is funded for a total $520 000 of which $370 000 is IDA grant financed.
The IDA credit is provided at the standard commitment fee of 0,5%, a service charge of 0,75%, and a maturity of 40 years, including a ten-year period of grace. The government of Eritrea and the Eritrean Electric Corporation will finance the remaining costs of the project.
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
