Around half a million people foresee benefits from the pilot mini-grid built across nine sites in Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, and the Southern regional states. African Development Bank Group has approved eight million dollars in finance to support the project under the Distributed Renewable Energy & Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) program.

The DREAM project, with a total budget of 20 million dollars through concessional loans, grants, and risk mitigation, will cover half of the mini-grid capital expenditures. Developed in partnership with the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), the project aims to attract private sector investments in energy access and address the water-energy-food nexus in Ethiopia.

Joseph Ng'ang'a, Interim CEO of GEAPP, said the role of reliable power in enabling irrigation and clean drinking water is critical, improving livelihoods and local economies.

Since 2014, initiatives such as the USAID-backed solar irrigation scheme for vegetables and fruits have aimed to reduce Ethiopia's dependency on rain-fed agriculture, especially crucial amid escalating drought conditions affecting 97pc of Ethiopian farms.