The World Bank and African Development Bank have pledged their support for the Southern African Power Project SAPP to develop the regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility RTIFF.
RTIFF is an innovative financing mechanism aimed at unlocking current constraints and to crowd in the public and private sector financing required.
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The World Bank President, David Malpass said unlocking renewable energy and power trade potential requires a comprehensive approach, with parallel efforts at regional and national levels.
According to him several key interconnections, across three corridors (East, Central and West), have already been identified by SAPP and require investments in the order of $2 billion.
Malpass reiterated that the World Bank Group remains committed to supporting Africa in promoting increased interconnectivity, decarbonization and access to electricity.
“This morning we launched SCALE, a new multi-partner initiative that aims to bring global community resources – including grants and concessional loans – to support greenhouse gas reductions in developing countries.
“We also support faster debt reduction efforts for countries with unsustainable debt – this will free up vital resources for development and climate action.
“Our commitment to Africa is reflected in the current active portfolio of regional integration programs across the African continent in the amount of $19 billion, ranging from common infrastructure to building the joint capacity and systems for coordinated action on, among others, food systems, digital development, trade, and energy markets.
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“Our active portfolio of regional energy projects amounts to around US$6 billion, including US$ 1.2 billion in Southern Africa. We are keen to provide additional support. I note that this is in addition to our current portfolio of energy access operations which amounts to US$8 billion, and when completed, it will provide energy access to 75 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He thanked the Tanzanian President, Her Excellency, Samia Suluhu Hassan for taking the leadership in hosting such a meeting, he went further to thank the Presidents of Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and others for their constructive contributions and stated the WBG’s commitment to supporting the innovative solutions that SAPP is developing to leverage private and climate funding.
