Speaking at the Powering Africa: Summit on 9 March, Enoh T. Ebong, Acting Director, U.S. Trade and Development Foundation (USTDA) announced a recent grant signing for a feasibility study for two 17MW solar photovoltaic plants near the villages of Pá and Kodéni in Burkina Faso
“For Burkina Faso, this presents the chance to bring much needed power to one of the most under-developed electricity sectors in Africa,” commented Ebong. Several of USTDA’s other project and funding successes over the last 12 months in countries such as Tanzania and Nigeria were also touched upon; “since the launch of Power Africa, USTDA has increased its energy portfolio by over 800 per cent.”
The Powering Africa: Summit welcomed 500 investors to the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington DC from across North America, Africa and Europe to present energy projects, discuss investment opportunities and build relationships within the international power community. The solar plants are being developed by BioTherm Energy, a South African renewable energy company.
Over 100 speakers participated in panel discussions, presentations and roundtables focusing on topics such as gender diversity in the energy sector, US-Africa partnerships for growth and trade, energy economics for gas Independent Power Projects (IPPs) and an update on recent renewable energy successes across Africa.
Developer, owner, and operator of power projects Access Power also announced the official opening of the submissions process for ACF 2017 - the third edition of the funding and support platform for renewable energy projects in Africa.
Principal speakers at the conference included South African Minister for Energy H.E. Hon Tina Joemat-Pettersson, H.E. Hon Irene Muloni, Minister of Energy & Mineral Development, Uganda, H.E. Hon. Pierre Anatole Matusila, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Democratic Republic of Congo and H.E. Hon James Musoni, Minister of Infrastructure, Rwanda.
