The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced that it would donate €12.46 million (~₹1.05 billion) to finance the Energy Transition and Institutional Support Program (ETISP) in the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, an African Island near the equator.

The five-year-long program is expected to cost around €13 million (~₹1.09 billion), of which €550,462 (~₹46.2 million) has been provided by the Santomean government to promote green growth and sustainable development of the electrical network of the country.

The funds will also be used to strengthen the management of public finances and the local business climate. The donation was approved by the board of directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional financing window of the AfDB Group.

According to the AfDB, the program has three components:

• Supporting the government in implementing the program and building institutional capacity.

The ETISP’s priorities will be to finance urgent work and to bolster the network of existing thermal power stations. It will also help renovate the 1 MW Papagaio hydroelectric power station, and the hybridization of a thermal power project in Santo Amaro with solar photovoltaics.

The program will also support the implementation of an energy efficiency program, improve airport equipment to increase exports, develop essential computer systems for public finance management and strengthen institutional capacities in environmental and social management as well as gender equality.

The implementation of this program is likely to result in higher production capacity based on the development of renewable energy sources and greater availability of existing installed capacity. This will give people better access to energy, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and better technical and financial viability of the sector.

The program will also improve the reliability of the electricity supply and increase the country’s export capacity. These efforts will be supported by energy efficiency interventions. The program will improve financial and economic governance, as well as the quality of the environment.

The direct beneficiaries of the program are the people of the island of São Tomé and that of Principe as well as businesses and industries.

Recently, Mercom reported that the African Development Bank and the Government of Nigeria announced the launch of their National Electrification Project (NEP), which aims to help improve access to energy by promoting private investment into mini-grid and off-grid solutions. The project will be implemented by the country’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to boost efforts to achieve the target of universal energy access by 2030.

Previously, AfDB announced that the Facility for Energy Inclusion’s Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF) reached its final equity close target of $59 million (~₹4.17 billion) in committed equity capital and $36 million debt facilities to promote off-grid energy access.