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Business News of Thursday, 23 January 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

AfDB to invest $600m in Africa's renewable energy projects

Adesina Adesina

$600 million has been set aside for investing in renewable energy in Africa, President, African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said.

He made this announcement on the sidelines of the UK-Africa Investment Summit.

He noted that huge opportunities abound in the renewable energy sector and it behooves on Africans to invest in it.

Adesina said: "Huge opportunities exist for investment in renewable energy, especially for hydropower, wind, solar, thermal and geothermal.

“But many of these opportunities can’t be realised unless we invest a lot more in project preparation to make the projects bankable. The African Development Bank through its NEPAD infrastructure project preparation facility has helped to mobilise financing for $8.5bn of infrastructure projects.”

To support his claim, Adesina disclosed that an excess of $800m in renewable energy had been supplied by Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.

“With global climate change, and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, there is an urgent need to climate-proof infrastructure investments.

“The devastating cyclones in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe led to massive destruction of critical infrastructure. The same applies to coastal states, which are more vulnerable to coastal erosion and floods. Infrastructure investment must now be climate-resilient," he added.

The AfDB President noted that the funds would be utilised in funding projects in Kenya and several parts of Africa.