Ethiopia - Ethiopia Distributed Renewable Energy Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) Programme (AFDB-P-ET-FF0-005)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Ethiopia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Oromia, Amhara, and Sidama/Southern Ethiopia
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
Jul 17, 2026
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
RVE.SOL ETH Energy Generation Solutions
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • 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)
$ 2.00 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)
$ 2.00 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.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 3.80 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
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ AFDB website

Updated in EWS Oct 16, 2026

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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 Lelicho and Murche Mini-Grid Sub-Projects form part of Ethiopia’s Distributed Renewable Energy and Agriculture Modalities (DREAM) Programme, an innovative energy-agriculture initiative designed to demonstrate a commercially viable, private sector-led model for rural electrification through renewable-energy mini-grids anchored by productive agricultural demand. The programme combines solar-hybrid mini-grids with irrigation infrastructure under an ABC model, comprising Anchor demand from irrigation, Business demand from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and Community connections for households. This demand-stacking approach is intended to improve project economics, strengthen revenue certainty and enhance the long-term sustainability of rural mini-grids.

DREAM is jointly supported by the African Development Bank through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia through the Ministry of Water and Energy, with the participation of the Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Transformation Institute. The wider DREAM pilot covers nine mini-grid sites grouped into three geographic lots: Oromia, Amhara, and Sidama/Southern Ethiopia.

RVE.SOL was selected to develop the Lelicho and Murche mini-grid sub-projects under Lot 3, which are the most advanced and implementation-ready sites under the programme. The two sub-projects will install approximately 1.4 MWp of renewable-energy generation capacity and 450 kWh of battery storage, generating an estimated 2.5 GWh of renewable electricity annually. The mini-grids will support household electricity access while also powering productive uses, particularly irrigation and rural businesses, thereby linking rural electrification with agricultural productivity and local economic development.

The total estimated cost of the Lelicho and Murche sub-projects is approximately USD 3.8 million. Financing comprises a USD 2.0 million reimbursable grant from SEFA, representing approximately 50% of the project cost; a USD 1.51 million grant from GEAPP; and approximately USD 0.38 million in sponsor equity from RVE.SOL. At programme level, the DREAM pilot is estimated to cost approximately USD 20.6 million, including an overall USD 8 million SEFA financing envelope.

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 by the AfDB, the recipient and project company is RVE.SOL ETH Energy Generation Solutions PLC, an Ethiopian company established to develop, own and operate the Lelicho and Murche mini-grid assets. It is a subsidiary of RVE.SOL S.A. of Portugal. RVE.SOL ETH will be responsible for the construction, ownership and operation of the facilities under a concession granted by the Government of Ethiopia. The African Development Bank, acting as administrator of SEFA, will provide the USD 2 million reimbursable grant and implementation oversight.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - RVE.SOL 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:

Dennis Munuve
Email: d.munuve@afdb.org 

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/

How it works

How it works