Browsing: International Development Association (IDA)

• Energy experts warn that the shortages that plague Africa’s electricity access in 2024 will have a significant drain on the continent’s economic growth.
• World Bank will connect 300 million Africans to electricity with a $35 billion plan.
• Africa is poised to adapt to transformative advancements that will reshape the landscape of energy access, storage, and connectivity across the continent.

Africa remains the most energy-deficient continent, with approximately 75 per cent of its population lacking access to electricity. As of 2021, 43 per cent of Africans, roughly 600 million people, were without electricity access, with 590 million in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, nearly half of the continent’s population is unable to use basic electrical appliances.

Despite improvements in electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, where 49.4 per cent of the population had access in 2022, up from 33 per cent in 2010, electricity consumption has not seen a corresponding increase. The persistent lack …

• The project will benefit over 17.5 million unserved, underserved, rural, and remote Nigerians through the deployment of standalone solar and mini-grids.
• The initiative will replace over 280,000 polluting and expensive petrol and diesel generators, helping Nigeria to achieve energy transition targets.
• Under the project, up to 237,000 small businesses will access reliable and clean electricity for productive uses.

The International Development Association (IDA) is readying a credit of $750 million from the World Bank’s fund for poor nations to support clean energy initiatives in Nigeria.

The goal is to enhance electricity access to roughly 17.5 million people in Africa’s most populous nation, addressing the critical need for improved power infrastructure and sustainability in the country.

Founded in 1960, IDA offers grants and loans with low to zero-interest rates to support projects and programs aimed at enhancing economic growth, alleviating poverty, and enhancing the well-being of poor populations. Serving as a …

• World Bank foresees $12 billion in support for Kenya between 2023 and 2026.
• This financing is subject to approval as East Africa’s economic powerhouse continues to depend on borrowing to bridge budget gaps in the wake of high recurrent expenditures and revenue shortfalls.
• The World Bank said it is fully committed to support Kenya in its journey to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030.

Kenya stands to benefit from up to $12 billion in financing from the World Bank over the next three years, as indicated by the global lender, ensuring continued support for the debt-saddled country.

This is subject to approval, the World Bank noted on Monday, as East Africa’s economic powerhouse continues to depend on borrowing to bridge budget gaps in the wake of high recurrent expenditures and revenue shortfalls. The World Bank stated that it is fully committed to supporting Kenya in its journey to become an …

The World Bank gave $379 million to help balance and strengthen statistical systems in seven West African countries.

The seven countries include Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Togo and Liberia.

The project “Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West Africa (HISWA)’ is funded by the International Development Association (IDA) credits and grants.

The project key objective is to strengthen the statistical systems of the participating countries, regional and sub-regional bodies, in order to help them balance, produce, distribute and enhance the use of core social and economic statistics.

With World Bank’s efforts to deepen regional integration in Africa, the funding will also support the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU).

Also Read: Africa asks World Bank, EU and IMF for debt relief support

“High-quality and harmonised statistics are essential to support economic activity and regional integration as a way to address …

The World Bank Group gave $12 billion to help countries that are dealing with the health and economic effects of the global outbreak of coronavirus.

As coronavirus reaches more than 60 countries in the world, World bank’s financing is designed to help it’s member countries take constructive action to respond and reduce the tragic effects caused by the virus where possible.

Through this new package, the World Bank Group will help developing countries strengthen health systems, by bettering access to health services to protect people from the virus, strengthening the virus surveillance, improving the public health interventions and to reduce the impact on economies by working with the private sector.

To support country-based responses, World Bank’s financial package will be globally coordinated with financing drawn from across International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Through the coronavirus support package, initial crisis …

The World Bank approved two grants worth $160 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Burundi improve essential services through solar power and local development in rural and remote areas.

Solar Energy in Local Communities (SOLEIL) will get $100 million in subsidies which aims to increase access to energy in Burundi by almost 100 per cent by electrifying schools, businesses, families and centres of the less privileged communities in the country.

More than 91,000 households, 4,000 SMEs, 400 health centres and 500 schools will have access to electricity all du to solar energy. 400 schools and 300,000 households will also have ecological fireplaces.

The remaining $60 million from the IDA will go to Integrated Community Development. The project will improve access to basic services and economic opportunities and nutrition for the less privileged populations in the country, including refugees. The project will also allow the creation of 1,000 …

The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a US$750 million (Ksh75.9 billion) International Development Association (IDA) credit for Kenya, in the latest move by the global lender to channel funds to the East Africa State.

A member of the World Bank Group headquartered in Washington D.C, IDA is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world’s poorest developing countries

The loan comes amid concerns over the country’s ballooning public debt which crossed the Ksh5.1 trillion (US$50.4 billion) mark in September 2018, with possibilities of going Ksh5.6 trillion (US$55.4 billion by close of the year.

READ:Tough times: Kenya piles Kshs 2.5 billion debt in a day

On Tuesday, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor Patrick Njoroge said the country’s headroom for new borrowing has shrunk since it tapped the US$2.1 billion Eurobond earlier this month, which part of it has gone towards debt refinancing.…