Page 9 - AfrElec Week 04

AfrElec INFRASTRUCTURE AfrElec
LAPSSET project gains AU support
KENYA
KENYA’S Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) infrastructure venture gained the status of an African Union (AU) pri- ority project this month, potentially helping the government in Nairobi attract financing for the ambitious endeavour.
The broad infrastructure project, priced at $26bn, comprises a refined fuel pipeline, a crude oil pipeline, a sea port, roads, airports, a railway and resort cities. But progress on the decade-old plan has been slowed by civil issues and a lack of buy-in from the governments involved.
Civil war in neighbouring South Sudan has also delayed execution.
Most of the work that has taken place has been in Kenya, where a road between Isiolo and Moyale on the Ethiopian border was com- pleted in July 2017. Last year the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority (LCDA) also announced the completion of the first of Lamu’s 22 planned berths.
Under the LAPSSET masterplan, the prod- ucts pipeline would eventually extend from Moyale to Hawassa and then to Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia’s rapprochement with neighbouring Eritrea has been seen as weakening its commit- ment to the project.
Lacking anywhere near enough funding, the
Kenyan government has turned to the AU and other regional investment groups to carry the project forward.
AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development Raila Odinga announced LAPS- SET’s adoption as an AU project on January 19 at a ceremony in Kenya. The event was attended by ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan, who signed a memorandum on its devel- opment and funding. Also present were repre- sentatives of prospective financiers, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Mission of Africa and the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).
“This project will now not only connect Kenya with Ethiopia and South Sudan, but with other West Africa countries once it is completed,” Odinga said. “As an AU project, it will link with other continental corridors such as East Africa Northern Corridor, East Africa Central Corri- dor and provide a land bridge through the Afri- can Great Lakes region.” With its new status, the AU will recommend LAPSSET for financing to investors. Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan have agreed to form a steering committee with financiers to co-ordinate the project’s implemen- tation. ™
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INVESTMENT
AfDB, Liberia’s GoL sign
$33.74mn loan extension
for renewable energy
The Government of Liberia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed Financing Agreements for two Projects valued over US$33 million.
The two projects are the “Renewable Energy for Electrification of Liberia
(REEL Project) and Support to Investment Promotion Agencies in Transition Countries”.
The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah, Jr. signed for the Government of Liberia, while the AfDB’s Liberia Country Manager, Dr. Orison M. Amu, signed for the Bank.
According to the Agreement, the value of the REEL Project is US$33.74 million and is expected to be implemented over a 4-year period.
The Agreement mentions the development
NEWS IN BRIEF
of a hydropower plant on the Gbedin Falls on the St. John River in Nimba County for the REEL Project.
The dam is expected to have a capacity of 9.34 megawatts and will serve as a source of reliable, sustainable and affordable power in the region, thus enabling the power grid expansion to isolated localities and remote areas, and encourage the connection of an increased number of households, schools, health centers, businesses and industries to the national grid.
Increased access to electricity and fostering of renewable energy sources, improved annual electricity generation; increased access to reliable electricity, contribution to the reduction of electricity generation cost and fossil energy consumption, and job creation are some expected outcomes of the Project.
Additionally, the Agreement for the “Support to Investment Promotion Agencies in Transition Countries Project” supported by the AfDB under its “ADF-14 Transition Support Facility (TSF)” is valued at US$1 million, and is expected to be implemented over the course of three years.
AfDB sponsored off-grid
energy access fund
successfully raises $59mn
The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently announced that the Facility for Energy Inclusion’s Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF) reached its final equity close target of $59mn in committed equity capital and $36mn debt facilities to promote off-grid energy access.
It said that the final close was reached on November 18, 2019, following a $15mn equity contribution from the European Union and
a $17mn offering from KfW, a German state- owned development bank, based in Frankfurt, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The EU also said it would provide $2mn to fund a technical assistance facility to enhance local currency financing. Funds are closed when their asset base gets too large. The final close is when the last investors commit to making their investments.
Initially supported by a grant from the
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