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African Union launching $20 billion renewable energy initiative

African Union launching $20 billion renewable energy initiative Olkaria III plant by Ormat (source: video screenshot)
Alexander Richter 2 Dec 2015

The African Union is launching a new African Renewable Energy Initiative aimed at mobilising up to $20 billion in investment for the development of 10,000 MW in clean energy power generation capacity in Africa.

Reported yesterday from the COP21 meetings in Paris, the African Union, an alliance of 54 countries, “launched a plan to mobilize $20 billion to develop at least 10,000 MW of renewable energy on the continent by the end of the decade.

The African Renewable Energy Initiative will be hosted by the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based African Development Bank, which will also act as a trustee, according to Alex Rugamba, director of energy, environment and climate change at the AfDB”, as reported by Bloomberg

The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) aims at enabling the installation of large-scale renewable energy capacity on the African continent by 2020, which would have a considerable impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions in the continent. At least $5 billion in public and highly concessional finance between 2016 and 2020, from bilateral, multilateral and other sources, including the Green Climate Fund, will be needed to leverage a further USD15 billion in other investments, for a total investment of at least USD20 billion pre-2020.

The Initiative is led by the African Union’s commission, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)’s Agency, the African Group of Negotiators, the African Development Bank, the UN Environment Program (UNEP), and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Most of the funding is expected to come from $100 billion pledged by rich countries to fight climate change in the developing world at the climate meetings 2009 in Copenhagen.

Source: Bloomberg, UNFCC