ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast March 20, 2024 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/-African Development Bank Group Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Service Delivery, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, affirmed on March 11, 2024 in Abidjan, that Africa, as part of the development of its renewable energy sector, can benefit from the expertise of Austria, a country largely supplied by renewable energy sources. renewable energies.
“Austria is 80% powered by renewable energy. The expertise of Austrian companies is extremely valuable for Africa which has abundant sources of solar, hydroelectric, wind and geothermal energy,” the Vice-President told Austrian parliamentarians visiting the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan. .
Africa has almost unlimited potential for solar capacity (11 terawatts), 350 gigawatts of hydropower, 110 gigawatts of wind power and 15 gigawatts of geothermal power.
MPs Hermann Brückl and Sibylle Hamann and members of the Austrian parliamentary delegation are visiting Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. On clean energy, they learned how the African Development Bank’s $20 billion Desert to Power initiative aims to produce 10,000 megawatts of solar energy to power 250 million people. people in 11 Sahel countries including Burkina Faso.
Accompanied by the Austrian Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, Ursula Fahringer, the parliamentarians were also informed of the Bank’s work in the agricultural sector, in particular, the creation of Special Agro Transformation Zones. -industrial (SAPZ), industrialization, waste management in Abidjan, water and sanitation as well as the effects of insecurity, particularly in the Sahel region.
Ms. Akin-Olugbade thanked Austria for its continued support to the Bank and its concessional lending window, the African Development Fund, as well as various other trust funds and initiatives.
Austria, which joined the Bank in 1983, has participated in all general capital increases of the Bank and replenishments of the African Development Fund. In the 16th Replenishment of the Fund in December 2022, Austria contributed €123 million (approximately $135 million), an increase of 12.6% compared to the previous replenishment. More than $8.9 billion was mobilized during the 16th replenishment of the fund, the largest in its history.
Over the past five years, the African Development Fund has helped connect 15.5 million people to electricity, support 74 million people through improved agriculture, build or rehabilitate nearly 9,000 kilometers of roads. It also provided 50 million people with access to transportation and 42 million people with access to better water and sanitation services.
The Center for Global Development ranked the Fund second among 49 bilateral and multilateral development agencies for the quality of its assistance.
Ambassador Ursula Fahringer said that Austria has great economic interest in Ivory Coast and “this is why it regularly sends economic missions to Ivory Coast. Another mission is expected in June. »
Takaaki Nomoto, Bank Group Executive Director for Austria, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Argentina, participated in the meeting.
Marie Laure Akin-Olugbade was accompanied by several senior officials of the Bank, including Joseph Ribeiro, Deputy Managing Director for the West Africa region, Caroline Kende-Robb, Senior Director of the Strategy and Operational Policies Department, Omar Sefiani , Treasurer of the Bank, Gauthier Bourlard, Director and Special Advisor in the President’s Office, Yvette Glele-Ahanhanzo, Director of Portfolio Monitoring and Service Delivery and Josiah Maxmillan Bankole Jarett, Director of Strategy and Delivery of services to the office of the president.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) for the African Development Bank.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)
2024-03-20 04:25:16
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