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steel production in Ethiopia. money services, with the option to adjust in the energy and transport sectors. The
The Tigray complex to be located in the their payment amounts when their levels of investment vehicle contributes to Africa’s
north of the country will combine solar income change. EDF provides energy services growth by developing and investing in
power, battery storage and waste-to-energy at 38,900 sites in Europe as well as Argentina, bankable projects, catalyzing public sector
capacity. It will also include energy storage Brazil, China, the Ivory Coast, the US and capital and mobilising private sector funding.
batteries and biomass power plant facilities. Vietnam. Zola Electric, formerly known as Africa50’s investment in Egypt’s 1.5 GW
A power grid will also be built to connect M-Power, sells power systems in five countries solar park in the Aswan desert is a prime
the plants to industrial facilities, making this in Africa. example.
structure one of the largest mini-grids in the NEoT Côte d’Ivoire is owned by NEoT Off- The solar energy potential in Egypt, a
world. “The output from the power plant will Grid Africa, which plans to place “hundreds country known for year-round sunny days,
supply power to Effort Group’s operations of millions of euros” in renewable energy in has long tempted investors. But the high cost
for 30 years,” said Anthony Vippond, CEO of Africa. The vehicle is co-managed by NEoT of solar plants led the government to favor
Lotus Energy. Off-Grid Africa; EDF; Meridium, a subsidiary climate-warming fossil fuels, accounting for
Work on the power complex is expected of US-based industrial conglomerate General 90% of its power generation.
to begin in September 2020. The costs will Electric; and the Mitsubishi Foundation of Now that the prices of its components have
amount to approximately 148bn Ethiopian Japan. fallen, solar energy has become competitive,
Birrs, equivalent to $4.3bn. allowing Benban to become a reality. In 2017,
The two solar projects are part of the Africa50 joined investors Norfund and Scatec
“Scaling Solar” programme initiated by Infrastructure Fund Africa50 Solar to reach financial close for six of the 32
the World Bank through the International utility scale solar power plants in the complex,
Finance Corporation (IFC). The objective is helps Egypt’s solar power totaling 390 MW.
to encourage private companies to invest in The Benban project, providing clean
solar energy, to supply energy to the national sector take off energy to hundreds of thousands of
electricity grid of the country concerned, households, will help Egypt to reach its target
and to ensure the rapid implementation of Africa50 is an independent infrastructure of generating 20% of its power from renewable
electricity projects, in particular through the fund, focused on high-impact projects mostly sources by 2022. It has put Egypt on the map
use of public-private partnerships (PPPs). in the energy and transport sectors as a major solar player in Africa and has set a
A 37-square-kilometer solar park so large precedent for using North Africa’s ample solar
that it can be seen from space, with over seven resources to provide power while meeting
million photovoltaic panels, and funding of climate change commitments.
SOL AR $4bn. In Africa? Impossible? Not anymore. The solar power project has also
Thirty international infrastructure demonstrated Africa50’s ability to act as
Zola, EDF harness developers got behind this project, investing a bridge between the private sector and
in Egypt’s massive Benban solar park,
governments to deliver more projects
securitisation to expand which will be the largest in the world upon more quickly and help narrow Africa’s
completion. Among the investors is Africa50,
infrastructure gap.ww
solar energy in Côte d’Ivoire established by the African Development Bank.
Africa50 is an independent infrastructure
Credit Agricole CIB (Corporate and fund, focused on high-impact projects mostly
Investment Bank) and French investment
firm NEoT Off-Grid Africa have launched a
securitisation vehicle to enable Zola EDF Côte
d’Ivoire to increase its sales of solar power
systems to households that are not connected
to traditional power grids.
Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire, which uses a
pay-as-you-go model, will back customer
receivables through a new securitisation
vehicle called NEoT Côte d’Ivoire. Societe
Generale Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of
France-based Societe Generale, has lent the
vehicle XOF11.8bn ($20mn), with guarantees
from the African Development Bank and
Credit Agricole CIB. GCA Foundation will
oversee the project and evaluate its social and
environmental impacts.
Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire was founded in
2016 by Zola Electric, a Tanzanian firm that
makes solar power systems, and Electricite
de France (EDF), a France-based producer
of carbon-free power plants. The customers
of Zola EDF Côte d’Ivoire pay for power kits
in installments over three years via mobile

Week 24 18•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13