The European Commission has awarded grants of EUR95 million for 16 projects across nine African countries to provide access to energy in rural areas. This amount will be translated into projects costing more than EUR155 million through co-financing support by applicants, and bring electricity to more than 2 million people.
Announcing this on Tuesday, EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs said "the EU is scaling up proven successful projects which have a high impact on poverty reduction through sustainable rural electrification. A shocking 84 percent of people in rural areas have been left behind without access to energy. We need to make sure that our work supports everyone, no matter where they live."
The funding is the result of a 'Call for Proposals', which is an EU funding system which enables NGOs, government and private sector organizations to receive a grant for EU Funding based on their proposal for an innovative project.
The countries which will benefit from this initiative are Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cameroon, Liberia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Rwanda. The European Commission will promote another 40 proposals received -but not selected - to private and public donors and development agencies.
This is a first step in a new innovative program to bring electricity to many millions. Over the next 7 years the Commission aims to spend more than EUR2 billion in supporting energy in Africa. This will, in turn, leverage investments exceeding EUR10 billion, filling in the gaps for energy infrastructure and therefore allowing businesses, schools, homes and hospitals to get the electricity they require.
In addition, another Call for Proposals targeting rural electrification in fragile states such as Burundi, Liberia, Somalia and Mali is currently under evaluation.
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