The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has provided USD 150 million (EUR 129.6m) to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the 10-GW Desert to Power solar initiative. The money will go towards the Desert to Power G5 Financing Facility, set up to mobilise USD 966 million over a seven-year period to assist the G5 Sahel countries — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger — in adopting low-emission power generation.
Led by AfDB, Desert to Power was created with the goal of lightning up and powering the Sahel region by building 10 GW of photovoltaic (PV) systems via public, private, grid and off-grid projects by 2030. Overall, this initiative is expected to help the region to avoid more than 14.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions.