$43 Million: Validated by the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank to Madagascar in a bid to Subsidize the next phase of Energy Transmission Venture

By Abdul Rahman Bangura– 

NEW AFRICA DAILY  NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone-  The Power Transmission Network Reinforcement and Interconnection Project in Madagascar (PRIRTEM-II) comprises the construction of a 135-km, 220 kV interconnection cable between the capital – Antananarivo and the central industrial city of Antsirabé. Also, the project will enable to nourish the power produced by the Sahofika Hydropower Plant into the national grid, providing with some eight million people with accessible, clean energy.

However, the financing includes a loan of UA 20 million ($28.6 million) from the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional lending window of the Bank, and a loan of UA 10 million ($14.3 million) from Pillar 1 of the Transition Support Facility (TSF), the Bank’s financing mechanism for fragile and transition countries.

The succeeding phase of the project also encompasses, the electrification of 19 townlet in the Soanindrariny, Ambohidranandriana, Ambatomena and Ambohimiarivo municipal councils of central Madagascar, a country which spite having enormous renewable energy potential, has an electricity access rate of only 15% nationally and 6% in rural areas.

The Bank’s Country Manager in Madagascar – Mohamed Cherif, told the project indicates the Bank’s commitment to boosting admission to clean and low-cost energy. This switch, is anticipated to oversee to the arrival of new economic chances, the development of industrialization, boosted career competitiveness and job creation on the Indian Ocean island.

As the sector’s lead contributor, the Bank is already energetically committed in various transformative energy projects in Madagascar, including PRIRTEM-I and the Sahofika plant, both intricately linked to PRIRTEM-II. The operation is aligned with the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2017-2021 for Madagascar, that concentrates on the growth of energy and transport infrastructure to fund the country’s comprehensive growth, as well as with the National Energy Policy (NPE).

The project is also in line with the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa 2016-2025, as well as its High-5 priorities “Light up and Power Africa” and “Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.”

For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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