The Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in charge of Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, Mr. Amadou Hott visited the SADC Secretariat on February 21, 2018 at SADC Headquarters, in Gaborone, Botswana.
The mission started with a courtesy call on the SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax who welcomed the Bank Vice President and commended the Bank for enhanced collaboration with the SADC Secretariat.
The visit by Mr. Hott, which focused on Infrastructure and Energy as one of the key regional priorities, follows another high level visit by the Deputy Director General of the AfDB in January 2018.
Her Excellency Dr. Tax underscored the importance of the Energy sector in regional integration, adding that while the SADC Priorities in the area of infrastructure Development are presented in the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan, financing of these priority projects remains one of the major challenges. The Executive Secretary requested the AfDB to assist in developing the capacity of the Secretariat and Member States to access and utilize the Bank’s financing instruments effectively, efficiently, and in a timely manner.
For his part, Mr. Hott informed the SADC Executive Secretary that a number of SADC regional power interconnection projects are expected to be submitted to the AfDB Board for possible support by end of November 2018. He requested the Executive Secretary to work with SADC Member States and submit proposed bankable projects timely; and pledged the Bank’s support to ensure a successful implementation of projects supported by the Bank in the Region.
Both parties expressed the importance for private sector involvement in infrastructure projects under the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) arrangement. In this vein, Mr Hott pointed out that the Bank stands ready to provide technical support to Member States through competent PPP advisors and, to build their capacity, particularly in PPP negotiations.
The Courtesy call was followed by a technical mission led by the SADC Deputy Executive Secretary, Regional Integration, Dr. Thembinkosi Mhlongo to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration in implementing regional energy projects. During which, the Secretariat presented a list of priority energy infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring security of energy supply, while promoting regional integration. Among such projects are:
a. The power interconnectivity projects that are aimed at connecting non-operating members (Angola, Malawi and Tanzania) to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) grid;
b. Transmission interconnectors aimed at relieving congestion on the SAPP grid;
c. New transmission projects meant to evacuate power from new power stations to load centres; and
d. Large power generation projects that will increase installed capacity to surpass the demand in the region by the year 2020.
