World Bank, AfDB partner to provide 300 million people in Africa with electricity

The World Bank Group and African Development Bank (AfDB) Group are partnering to provide at least 300 million people in Africa with electricity access by 2030.

The World Bank Group would work to connect 250 million people to electricity through distributed renewable energy systems or the distribution grid while the African Development Bank Group would support an additional 50 million people.

This is according to a statement made available to Zambia Monitor on Thursday by the World Bank.

Ajay Banga, World Bank Group President, said access to electricity was a fundamental human right and was foundational to any successful development effort.

Currently, 600 million Africans are estimated to lack access to electricity, creating significant barriers to health care, education, productivity, digital inclusivity, and ultimately job creation.

“Electricity access is the bedrock of all development. It is a critical ingredient for economic growth and essential for job creation at scale. Our aspiration will only be realised with partnership and ambition. We will need policy action from governments, financing from multilateral development banks, and private sector investment to see this through,” he said.

This partnership is reportedly a demonstration of the determination of the World Bank Group and AfDB to be bolder, bigger and better in tackling one of the most pressing challenges in Africa.

The statement stated that the initiative was the most recent manifestation of the World Bank Group’s commitment to become more impact-oriented and is the byproduct of a concerted work plan to build a better bank.

The program, it is said, would be aided by a constellation of regional energy programmes that would now be aligned toward this common goal.

For the World Bank Group, it would connect 250 million people, in which US$30 billion of public sector investment would be needed.

The World Bank said connecting 250 million people to electricity would open private sector investment opportunities in distributed renewable energy alone worth US$9 billion.

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