Desert to Power: The African Development Bank Group, Eritrea sign agreement for 12 MW mini-grid project

To build local capacity and ensure project sustainability, 25 local companies will be trained and equipped with tools and machinery

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and Eritrea have signed an agreement for $19.5 million in grant funding for the Desert to Power Eritrea 12MW Mini Grid Project.

Eritrea’s Minister of Finance and National Development, who is also the Bank Group Governor for the country, Dr. Ghiorghish Teklemichae, signed on behalf of the government during a 10 March signing ceremony.  The Bank Group’s Deputy Director General for East Africa, Dr. Léandre Bassole, represented the institution.

The financing, to be sourced from the Bank Group’s Transitional Support Facility (TSF), will support the rollout of mini-grids that will generate 12MW of electricity across the regions of Teseney (6MW), Kerekebet (3MW), and Barentu (3MW).

The project will be implemented by the national Ministry of Energy, the Eritrea Electricity Corporation (EEC) and local companies under the supervision and guidance of a design and engineering technical consulting firm to be contracted.

“We are proud to say that Africa is working with Africa to bring change to Africa,” Minister Teklemichae said during the signing ceremony. “This is for the good of our people and we are ready to work with you.”

The project is expected to provide improved energy access to more than 235,000 Eritreans, 20 percent of them women and youth. Beneficiaries will include residential households, small-scale farms, agro-processing zones, and water supply systems. The project will additionally benefit over 160 schools and 90 health centers in the Gash Barka region.

Our main objective is that we will accompany countries to drive their own development

To build local capacity and ensure project sustainability, 25 local companies will be trained and equipped with tools and machinery.

“The African Development Bank, your Bank, is here to work with you for you,” Deputy Director General Bassole said in his opening remarks. “Our main objective is that we will accompany countries to drive their own development.”

“Capacity building and knowledge transfer are critical to the success of the project’s implementation,” Deputy Director General Bassole said further. “This will be a continuous process.”

The project is aligned with the Bank’s Interim Country Strategy Paper 2022-2024 for Eritrea (https://apo-opa.co/4ioCBEo), which prioritizes developing quality and sustainable infrastructure to support agricultural value-chains for economic diversification and structural transformation.

The project also advances the objectives of the 2018 Eritrea National Energy Policy, which aims to increase electrification rates and ensure that renewable energy contributes 20% of electric power by 2030.