Ghana gets $28.49m from AfDB

The African Development Bank has granted Ghana $28.49 million to construct renewable energy infrastructure that will increase the country’s renewable energy use by 10% through 2030.

This financing comes from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) – Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP), and will be used to build mini-grids, stand-alone solar photovoltaic systems, and solar-based battery facilities. These will store excess power in a practice called net metering.

The total cost of the project is $85.18 million, with the African Development Fund contributing $27.39 million, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs contributing $13.30 million, and the Ghanaian government contributing $16 million. The project will design, engineer, supply, construct, install, test, and commission renewable energy systems on island communities in the Volta Lake region.

The project is expected to close gender gaps by creating 2,865 equitable jobs and livelihood opportunities, of which 30% will be for women and youth. The African Development Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa aims to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on the continent and to provide electricity to Africa as part of its High 5 priority objectives for enhancing the continent’s socioeconomic development.