Burkina-Faso - Desert to Power Dedougou 18MW solar PV (AFDB-P-BF-FF0-009)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Burkina Faso
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Dédougou
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • African Development Bank (AFDB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Sep 25, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Qair International SAS
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 6.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Grant Amount (USD)
$ 6.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AFDB website

Updated in EWS Jan 3, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the AfDB, the project involves designing, constructing, and operatingan 18 MWp photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant located 250 km west of Ouagadougou in the city of Dédougou. It falls under the Desert-to-Power (DtP) Initiative, for which Burkina Faso has been one of the five prioritised countries since the first implementation phase. It is a priority project in Burkina Faso's national DtP Roadmap and will contribute to diversifying the energy mix, reducing electricity costs, and increasing national electrification.

This project stands as one of the first independent power producers (IPPs) in Burkina Faso. It has secured both senior and subordinated loans, along with a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina Faso (SONABEL). However, the project encountered challenges in reaching financial close due to cost escalations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The SEFA Covid-19 IPP Relief Programme (SEFA Programme) played a pivotal role in overcoming these hurdles. Through concessional financing, SEFA helped restructure the financial arrangements to absorb the pandemic-related cost increases, ensuring the project’s viability and preserving the originally agreed structure with the Government of Burkina Faso, thereby contributing tothe country’s energy security.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated on the company's website, Qair is a European independent renewable energy company producing and offering green electricity, hydrogen and molecule solution.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina Faso (SONABEL) Buyer Energy contracts with Qair International SAS Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

AfDB Team Leader:

Jason Seungsoo Jin

No contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/

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How it works