The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved over $1 billion in energy projects across the continent during the end of 2010 in Egypt, the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
According to a press statement, Egypt received the largest amount with a $550 million loan to finance the Suez steam-cycle thermal power plant project in the country, which involves the construction of a 650 MW steam cycle power plant at a site in the vicinity of Suez city, approximately 150 km east of Cairo.
The power generated from the project, which was approved by the AfDB board on Dec. 15, will be used for industrial and commercial activities.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) received grants worth $106.6 million to finance the country’s rural and peri-urabn electrification projects. Meanwhile, Ethiopia will get a $143.44 million loan and a $88.75 million grant to finance the country’s electricity transmission system improvement project. Kenya received a loan of around $71.45 million for a power transmission system improvement project while Tanzania will get around $69.4 million to finance the Iringa-Shinyanga transmission line project.
