Apr 16 , 2022
The board of directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a 5.5 million dollar technical assistance grant to kick-start the roll-out of the flagship Desert to Power initiative to be implemented in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Sudan. Dubbed the East Africa Regional Energy Project, it will be financed through the regional public good window of the ADF, the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). The project will develop technical studies for regional solar parks and associated battery storage near regional energy inter-connectors, high-voltage cables that connect the electricity systems of neighboring countries. The initiative will also work to strengthen the technical capacity of the implementing institutions, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a trade bloc that includes countries from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the Great Lakes region.