Mauritania inks USD-289.5m package for solar, grid link with Mali

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Friday that it has signed USD 289.5 million (EUR 267.5m) in financing with the Mauritanian economy ministry, aiming to power up rural communities, install a cross-border electricity link between Mauritania and Mali, and unlock solar potential.

Mauritania will benefit from a USD-272-million loan from the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the AfDB group, and a USD-1.5-million grant from the Green Climate Fund to realise the combined interconnection and solar project. Specifically, the funding will used to invest in the 1,373-km (853.1 miles) Mauritania-Mali interconnection with a 600-MW transfer capacity, and the installation of solar farms along the 225 kV high-voltage line on Mauritania’s side of the border.

Additionally, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is providing a USD-16-million grant for a rural electrification project in Mauritania. This initiative will bring electricity to 40 localities in south-eastern Mauritania by connecting villages to mini solar farms hybridised with a back-up generator.

"There can be no sustainable, diversified economic growth without high-quality, reliable electricity that is accessible to all. Within this framework, the government has drawn up ambitious programs seeking to guarantee access to electricity for all citizens by 2030, and this requires the optimal exploitation of the energy sources available in the country, to which this financing from the African Development Bank will contribute," Mauritania's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Abdelssalam Mohamed Saleh, said.

The ADF will also provide USD 33.3 million to Mali for its part of the project, as the AfDB announced on an earlier occasion.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.924)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!