The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) will provide a concessional loan worth $25 million for the development of two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Mauritius and Rwanda.

Both the solar PV projects are beneficiaries of the fifth funding cycle and are being financed through the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility.

The loans cover up to 50 percent of the project costs in the two countries, leveraging additional funding from other sources.

In Mauritius, the ADFD loan of $10 million will help the Central Electricity Board in installations of solar PV systems on rooftops of 10,000 households. This initiative is part of Mauritius government’s  efforts to alleviate poverty while contributing to the national target of increasing the share of renewable electricity in the energy mix of the country to 35% by the year 2025.

In Rwanda, the ADFD loan of $15 million will contribute to the installation of 500,000 off-grid solar PV home systems across the country, providing clean electricity for lighting, mobile phone and radio charging.

“For developing countries, renewable energy is a triple win: it provides a cost-effective means of providing electricity to families, fuels economic growth, and supports energy independence and security,” IRENA’s Director-General Adnan Z. Amin said.

“However, many developing countries have trouble in accessing the financing for renewable energy investment.  We are delighted that our continued partnership with ADFD will provide a stable, low-cost source of financing to help Mauritius and Rwanda achieve a sustainable energy future,” Amin added.

Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD, said, “Our collaboration with IRENA articulates ADFD’s core mandate to support sustainable economic and social progress across the developing countries through financing development projects that serve vital economic sectors. ADFD priorities renewable energy as a catalyst for inclusive economic and social development.”

“At ADFD, we believe that through the widespread promotion of sustainable energy projects in countries with immense clean energy potentials, we can contribute to the long term economic prosperity of communities across the word. We are confident that the latest projects selected for funding in Mauritius and Rwanda will deliver sizeable benefits for the economies of local communities,” added Suwaidi.

Since 2014, ADFD has allocated $214 million to 21 projects, attracting over $420 million in additional co-financing from governments and development funds.

In October 2017, Mercom reported that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a total of $6.3 million (~₹398.92 million) to strengthen the off-grid energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to a report by the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) and Lighting Global, 3.52 million off-grid solar product sales were reported in the first half of 2017.

Image credit: IRENA