The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved US$428.43m to finance construction of infrastructure in Africa including energy, transport and water and sanitation. The eight African countries to benefit from the financial boost include Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Zimbabwe and Côte d’Ivoire.
The construction of a new terminal at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra is part of Ghana’s capital investment programme under the Ghana Airports Company Ltd. The company will receive a total of US$120m inclusive of the rehabilitation of other airports at Kumasi, Temale, Ho and Wa.
Tanzania will receive US$97.42m from the AfDB and US$44.29m from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) to finance phase II of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project in Dar es Salaam. The project involves the construction of 20.3 km exclusive BRT lanes and Non Motorized Transport (NMT) facilities along Kilwa Road corridor and the Kilwa road itself.
Zimbabwe will be given US$16.15m from the Zimbabwe Fund (ZIM-FUND) resources to finance phase II of the country’s Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation (UWSSRP) project in Harare, Redcliff, Chitungwiza and Ruwa with an estimated 1.9 million population. The project aims to protect public health through service improvement, preservation of physical assets, and resuscitation of capacity and improvement of financial sustainability of the water and sanitation service providers.
The multinational Gambia River Basin Development Organization (OMVG) Energy Project is expected to benefit The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Senegal with combined loans and grants financing amounting to US $64.93m.
The project, within the framework of the countries’ regional cooperation and integration, seeks to promote the sharing of energy and improve electricity supply by providing renewable, clean and affordable power, such as (i) the development of a 128-MW hydro-electricity dam with an annual output of 402GWh; and (ii) an interconnection network of 1,677 km, comprising 15 transformer stations and two dispatching centres.
The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau will each receive a soft loan and a grant amounting to US $5.26 million and US $6.32 million, respectively; while Guinean and Senegal will each receive US $64.94 million and US $59.66 million in soft loans.
In recent years AfDB has stepped up efforts to boost construction of infrastructure in Africa which it sees as key to development.
