29 January 2015: A solar power financing initiative launched by the World Bank, titled ‘Scaling Solar,’ will support African Governments in supplying energy to millions of consumers across the region through services aimed at creating a viable market for private projects. The announcement was made at the Powering Africa Summit, which gathered key power sector stakeholders in Washington DC, US, from 28-30 January.

The Scaling Solar initiative comprises a package of services that provide: support to countries to determine the size and location of projects, and auction them competitively; World Bank and other investment guarantees; financing from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to mobilize private funding; and a simplified process and suite of contract templates. The aim of these measures is to reduce project development time and uncertainty for bidders and investors, while achieving lower tariffs for utilities and consumers.

The initiative aims to address obstacles currently faced by investors developing private sector solar projects in the region, which include differences between markets, high transaction costs, heavy contractual negotiating processes, and high perceived risk and capital cost. These barriers lead to “slow, relatively expensive and ineffective solar development, which impedes access to electricity” in the region.

The Summit, which attracted participants from African ministries, utility companies, US investment agencies working across Africa and other power sector stakeholders, provided an opportunity for showcasing electricity and energy infrastructure projects, partnership and investment opportunities, and new investor programmes under development. The event was held in the context of the commitment by US President Barack Obama, announced in August 2014, to creating 30 GW of additional power generation capacity and increasing electricity access by at least 60 million connections across Sub-Saharan Africa, under the Power Africa initiative.

The Powering Africa Summit was held from 28-30 January 2015. The event included a keynote address by US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah on the role of the Power Africa initiative in increasing energy access among people in Sub-Saharan Africa. [World Bank Press Release] [Powering Africa Summit Website] [USAID Press Release] [IISD RS Story on US Power Africa Announcement]