Original disclosure @ AFDB website
Updated in EWS Mar 2, 2024
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As stated by the AfDB, the Multinational – Desert to Power Initiative – 225 kV Mauritania-Mali Power Interconnection and Related Solar Power Plants Development Project (PIEMM) is adopted by the Republic of Mali and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in the context where the electricity sub-sectors in both countries faces significant challenges, including (i) a low electricity access rate; (ii) an electricity supply-demand gap; and (iii) a marked predominance of fossil fuel-based power generation in the energy mix. PIEMM will comprise three components: (A) Construction of Electrical Infrastructure; (B) Institutional Support; and (C) Project Management. It will be implemented over seven (7) years, from January 2024 to December 2030.
The project will benefit about 2.2 million people in Mauritania, 52% of them women and help to connect 80 000 new households in 150 agro-pastoral localities. The project will be implemented in Kayes Region in Mali and will benefit about 500 000 people, including 20 000 households in the 50 localities that will be connected to the network. In addition to the above-mentioned beneficiaries, the project will directly benefit the two countries’ governments (which will collect taxes from project activities) and the two national power utility companies which will improve their performance, as well as 60 professional entities (schools, training centres, health centres, handicraft workshops, women’s professional groups, etc.) in the localities covered by the project.
The AfDB categorized the project risks as follows -
Environmental Category: 1
Climate Safeguards Categorization: 2
As stated on the companies' websites:
SOMELEC (Société Mauritanienne d'Électricité) was created in 2001 from of SONELEC (Société Nationale d'Eau et d'Électricité), created in 1975, which was responsible for the production and distribution and distribution of drinking water and electricity. SOMELEC is responsible for the production, purchase, transport, distribution and distribution and marketing of electricity in urban and peri-urban and peri-urban areas throughout the country.
At the institutional level, the Member States of the OMVS created the Manantali Energy Management Company (SOGEM) with the mission of carrying out the Manantali Energy Project, the operation of which is ensured by an independent Operator. Furthermore, SOGEM was responsible for the construction of numerous infrastructures in the energy sector such as rural electrification projects, in particular those of Mahina/Bafoulabé and the villages downstream of the Manantali dam in Mali, that of Bakel-Gouraye-Sélibaby in Senegal and Mauritania.
SOGEM also guaranteed the financing agreements signed or in the process of being signed for the future Gouina development project. In fact, these loans made to the States will be on-lent to SOGEM which will ensure their implementation as delegated project owner.
A player in the development and promotion of Mali's electricity sector, Énergie du Mali -SA is an industrial and commercial company.
| Private Actor 1 | Private Actor 1 Role | Private Actor 1 Sector | Relation | Private Actor 2 | Private Actor 2 Role | Private Actor 2 Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | Société de Gestion de l’Energie de Manantali (SOGEM) | Contractor | Energy |
| - | - | - | - | Société Energie du Mali SA (EDM-SA) | Contractor | Energy |
| - | - | - | - | Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (SOMELEC) | Contractor | Energy |
AfDB Team Leader:
Pierre Djaigbe
Email: p.djaigbe@afdb.org
Implementing Agencies -
Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (SOMELEC):
Website: https://www.somelec.mr/
Société de Gestion de l’Energie de Manantali (SOGEM):
Website: https://www.sogem-omvs.org/
Energie du Mali SA:
Website: https://www.edmsa.ml/
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/
