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South Africa benefits from World Bank’s $497 million grant for clean energy sourcing

Published

1 year ago

November 4, 2022

The World Bank has given South Africa a $497 million financing grant to enable the country decommission one of its largest coal-fired power plants and convert it to renewable clean energy, the global lender said.

In a statement released on Thursday, the bank said the newly closed Komati power station about 170 kilometres (105 miles) in the northeast of Johannesburg, will be repurposed by the use of solar and wind sources, and supported by batteries for storage.

“Closing the Komati plant this week is a good first step toward low carbon development,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass, said.

“The project is aimed at easing carbon emissions and creating economic opportunities in the area, which has been home to one of Africa’s largest coal plants for more than 60 years,” Malpass added.

The funding, according to the World Bank, comprises a $439.5m World Bank loan, a $47.5m concessional loan from the Canadian Clean Energy and Forests Climate Facility and a $10m grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), an initiative to help low and middle-income countries.

South Africa had earlier secured $8.5bn in loans and grants at the UN climate talks last year from a group of rich nations to finance its switch to greener energy.

But the remains heavily dependent on coal, which generates 80 per cent of its electricity while the power sector accounts for 41 percent of national CO2 emissions.

In recent months, the country has been suffering sweeping power outages caused by failures at state-owned energy firm Eskom’s ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure.

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Nigeria wants $2.25 billion World Bank loan

Published

15 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country is seeking up to $2.25 billion in World Bank loans and expects the bank’s board to approve the request in June.

The move was announced in a statement following the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C as the country also aims to issue diaspora bonds later this year to attract much-need foreign exchange into the country.

The World Bank loans would include $1.5 billion for development policy and $750 million for program-for-results, the statement said. It also said that the bank would meet in June to decide whether to approve the plan in its entirety.

The multilateral body is yet to comment on the revelation at press time.

Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest oil producers has struggled lately mainly over industrial-scale crude oil theft, and troubles getting foreign currency, which caused its naira currency to drop to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar. It has since recovered, though.

Already, the country is on record levels of debt, high unemployment, and large amounts of money from the central bank. However, Edun has insisted that the government had cut the money it borrowed from the central bank in half.

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Ghana’s finance minister anticipates debt restructuring MoU with lenders

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s Finance Minister has announced that the country’s two main creditors will send him a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a restructuring deal in May, signifying a major progress in the country’s debt reform.

Once the MoU is signed, it will make public the deal that was made in January to restructure $5.4 billion in loans with its official creditors, such as China and France.

The restructuring is a big step toward Ghana getting rid of its debt as it works to get out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It should also allow the country to get more money from its $3 billion IMF program.

Mohammed Amin Adam said he was sure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would work together at the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. In June, the Monetary Fund’s executive board will agree to review its staff-level deal.

From 2023 to 2028, Ghana’s national debt to gross domestic product level was supposed to go down by 15%. This guess says that the number will have gone down every year for six years, ending at 69.96% in 2028.

Ghana didn’t pay back most of its foreign loans in December 2022 because it became too expensive to do so. But now it needs to work out a deal with private holders of about $13 billion in foreign bonds. It has also changed most of its domestic debt.