The project to support the social component of Togo's rural electrification programme (PRAVOST) is an initiative to promote solar energy in rural areas through off-grid solutions as part of the national program, "CIZO" ("cizo" means "light up" in Mina, a Togolese language). The project is part of the Togo Electrification Strategy launched in June 2018. It is designed to respond to socio-economic developments in the country, which are characterised by growth and the government's willingness to modernize the agricultural sector through agro-industrial transformation and related services as well as the improvement of the quality of life of people who need electricity to achieve the desired modernization. Furthermore, PRAVOST complements a particular component of CIZO, household energy access, by electrifying community facilities, hence achieving "whole village electrification" through standalone solar systems. The project has four components: (a) a social component that includes the electrification of 314 health centers and equipping 122 health centres with solar water heaters, the solar electrification of 400 drinking water supply stations and the deployment of 600 solar irrigation pumps; (b) electrification of approximately 2000 households by smart mini-grids; (c) implementation of a PayGo platform for the integration of payments and data collection; and (d) coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation. The main expected results are: (i) increasing the electrification rate of households and community infrastructure in rural off-grid areas; (ii) and increasing the number of small farms using sustainable renewable energy systems. The total project costs considering private investment are estimated to XOF 7,976 million (UA 9.858 million) excluding taxes.

The project's overall objective is to strengthen the community resilience of about 500 rural localities in Togo through access to solar energy. It aims to provide power to remote villages at a lower cost and by using off-grid solar solutions. The specific objectives are as follows: (i) increase the acess rate of community infrastructure in rural off-grid areas to clean energy; (ii) contribute to farmers' resilience by deploying solar irrigation pumps; and (iii) improve energy access for households through innovative smart technologies for standalone solar systems and mini grids.

The main beneficiaries of the project are: (i) rural communities, it is estimated that the project covers approximately 500 localities; (ii) small farmers vulnerable to climate change in offgrid areas. The majority of farmers continue to use ancestral and manual irrigation systems that often expose them to a high risk of unpredictable rainfall and climate change; and finally (iii) households that will benefit from mini-grids. The number of beneficiaries is estimated to be 600,000 people in the five regions of the country, representing about 100,000 people in each of the Kara, Maritime, Central and Savannah regions and about 200,000 beneficiaries in the Plateau region.

BEN ABDA Fatma

f.benabda@afdb.org

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/.