World Bank unveils $5b renewable energy plan for Africa

WASHINGTON (AFP): The World Bank will allocate $5 billion to deliver “reliable, affordable, renewable electricity” to 100 million Africans by the end of the decade, the president of the development lender announced Wednesday.

The World Bank estimates that around 600 million people in Africa do not currently have access to reliable electricity, a key factor hampering job creation and economic development on the continent.

To meet its new objective to alleviate poverty on a “livable planet,” Ajay Banga said the World Bank must find ways to connect more people to a greener energy grid.

Electricity “should be for everyone,” he told a meeting of the International Development Association (IDA) — the bank’s concessional lender to some of the world’s poorest countries — in Zanzibar, Tanzania, on Wednesday.

“With $5 billion from IDA, we are on a mission to deliver reliable, affordable, renewable electricity to 100 million Africans before 2030,” he said.

Alongside the commitment from IDA, the World Bank is looking to bring in an additional $10 billion in private and public funding to aid the project, he added.

The plan will look to  modernize existing grids, build out solar power, improve reliability and boost cross-border trade in energy, he explained.

“We must find a way to finance a different world, where climate is protected and poverty is defeated,” he said.