Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
The leaders of >½ of #Africa’s nations gathered in Dar es Salaam, #Tanzania to commit to the biggest burst of spending on #electric-power generation in Africa’s history.
The #WorldBank, #AfricanDevelopmentBank & others are pledging at least $35B to expand #electricity across a continent where more than a half-billion people still don’t have it. About half of the money will go toward #solar “minigrids” that serve individual communities.
#CleanEnergy #energy #climate
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/climate/africa-world-bank-solar-electricity.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The loans will come at below-market interest rates, a crucial stipulation as #global #lenders usually charge much higher rates in #Africa, citing higher risks.
In an interview, Ajay Banga, the president of the #WorldBank, cast the initiative in sweeping terms where #economic #development met societal #stability & basic #HumanRights. “Without #electricity, we can’t get #jobs, #health care, skills,” he said. The success of electrification, he said, is “foundational to everything.”
The summit’s promise is to get half of #Africa’s 600 million unelectrified people powered up in just 6 years. That averages out to 5 million people a month. Banga said the #WorldBank, on its own, had not yet even passed the one-million-a-month mark.
Despite the unusually strong statements of political will, many people, particularly in Africa’s beleaguered #power sector, expressed deep skepticism.