Islamic, Asian banks pledge around $6 billion for Africa electrification push

The Islamic Development Bank and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank pledged up to $6.15 billion in funding on Tuesday for an initiative to connect 300 million Africans to electricity in the next six years.

Mission 300, launched by the World Bank and the African Development Bank in April, is projected to cost $90 billion - with funding from multilateral development banks, development agencies, private businesses and philanthropies, according to the Rockefeller Foundation, which is part of the initiative.

Muhammad al Jasser, chairman of the IsDb, said in a statement released during a summit of African heads of state in Tanzania that the Jeddah-headquartered bank was committing $2.65 billion in project financing and another $2 billion to insure power projects in Africa.

Beijing-based AIIB is set to provide $1-1.5 billion in financing.

"Six hundred million people in Africa without access to electricity is intolerable," said AIIB President Jin Liqun.

The additional finance builds on commitments of up to $48 billion from the World Bank and the AfDB, summit officials said, predicting more funding commitments would be announced during the gathering.

Provision of 300 million people with access to electricity, half of those currently without power on the continent, is a crucial building block for boosting Africa's development by creating new jobs, said World Bank President Ajay Banga.

Apart from lighting up homes and businesses, Mission 300 is expected to boost the provision of clean cooking energy to homes, cutting reliance on wood and charcoal which are harmful, said Tanzania's president, Samia Suluhu Hassan.

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