By: Energy capital & power

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved financing to support electricity generation, transmission and clean energy access projects across Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia.

In Tanzania, $282 million will be allocated to install high- and medium-voltage submarine power cables connecting Zanzibar and Mafia Islands to the national grid. This initiative will increase power capacity from 143 MW to 440 MW, connect 465,000 new consumers and provide 335,000 users with clean cooking devices. Tanzania aims to raise overall energy and clean cooking access from 46% to 75% by 2030.

In Rwanda, €173.84 million will fund the Energy Sector Result-Based Financing program to modernize and expand the national grid. The project will enable electricity access for 200,000 households and 850 productive-use clients, deploy off-grid solutions for 50,000 households, provide clean cooking technologies to 100,000 consumers and 310 public institutions, and install street lighting along 200 km of roads.

In Zambia, the AfDB is making a $40 million equity investment in distributed energy platform Project Zafiri to accelerate renewable energy adoption. The bank estimates that over half of new electricity connections by 2030 will come from distributed energy resources and aims to connect 300 million new consumers across Africa by then.