The African Development Bank has kicked off a feasibility study to explore the potential of electricity cooperative business models in Nigeria and Ethiopia.
ADB’s Director of power systems development, Batchi Baldeh, said the study aims at achieving universal electricity access across Africa by 2025. Currently, power shortages diminish the continent’s GDP growth by 2-4% per year, holding back job creation and poverty reduction efforts.
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Feasibility study
The study funded by the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund, will be conducted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) International over three months. NRECA will consider regulatory, legal, technical, and socio-economic factors that impact the creation of electric cooperatives in the two nations.
“This sudy is timely and aligned with the bank’s New Deal for Energy in Africa. We look forward to working with NRECA International to execute the study, and to leverage its extensive experience in electricity cooperative business models to pave the way for the implementation of transformational projects across Africa,” said Batchi Baldeh.
“We selected Nigeria and Ethiopia following dialogue with their respective ministers of energy during the Bank’s Africa Energy Market Place held in July 2018, where they expressed their governments’ commitment to improve rural access through established models. We rely on this cooperation to explore this innovative model of delivering our High 5 to light up and power Africa,” explained Baldeh.
Baldeh added that the cooperatives rely on strong partnerships among governments, rural, local communities and development partners for implementation and success. Findings of the study will be delivered in May this year. upon which the bank will inform the viability of plans to pilot the model in the selected countries.
