ZAMBIA, OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN $1.3BN POWER INVESTMENT

THE Climate Fund Managers (CFM) have been appointed to manage Southern African Power Pool’s (SAPP) US$1.3 billion Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF) to benefit countries such as Zambia.

CFM was appointed by SAPP in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The facility is meant to strengthen Southern African power grid by funding cross-border energy transmission infrastructure while enhancing access to reliable, affordable, and renewable energy in 16 SADC member states.

RTIFF would prioritise projects that focused on connecting currently unconnected

SAPP members, help relieve congestion bottlenecks to regional electricity trading, promote inter-continental power trading through transmission corridors, and support the adoption of new generation renewable energy space in the region.

SAPP is a cooperation of 12 Southern African countries represented by their national power utilities and some private utilities under the auspices of the SADC.

Its members - Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe - had created a common power grid between their countries.

SAPP Executive Committee Chairperson, Victor Mapani, identified access to capital as the number one barrier facing developers of energy transmission infrastructure.

Mr Mapani, also Zesco Managing Director, pointed out that RTIFF dismantled this by enabling the private sector to work alongside public sector utilities to roll out new transmission lines at scale.

“The provision of sustainable power can be distilled into three activities: generation, transmission and distribution. While generation receives the lion’s share of attention, the importance of delivering that power to where it is needed is equally critical.

“We are delighted to have appointed CFM with their strong track record in the African energy sector to establish and manage this innovative facility and to help our member states finally secure a sustainable, resilient energy supply,” he said.

And CFM Head of Private Credit, Amit Mohan, noted that the lack of investment in grid infrastructure was one of the reasons for ongoing blackouts in many parts of Southern Africa

“With roughly 180 million people living in the region exposed to ongoing power disruptions, universal access to reliable electricity will improve people’s health, safety, financial inclusion, and economic activities.

“If we do not invest in grids today, we will face gridlock tomorrow. This is even more pressing from an energy transition perspective as the world needs to embrace green electrons on the grid,” he said.