ZAMBIA - Ilute 25mw Solar PV (Sefa Covid-19 IPP Relief Programme) (AFDB-P-ZM-FF0-006)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Zambia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Sesheke, Western Province
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
A
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
Oct 21, 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
Serengeti Energy Ltd, Western Solar Power Ltd.
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)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 7.99 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.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 7.99 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 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, financing, constructing, commissioning, operating, and maintaining a 25 MWac (32MWp) solar photovoltaic power plant and associated connection infrastructure. The plant will be located approximately 15km north of Sesheke, on the western side of the Zambezi River, in Zambia’s Western Province. Electricity generated will be evacuated through the nearby 66/220KV Sesheke substation near the Namibia border. The project was competitively selected in July 2021 by GreenCo Power Services Ltd (GreenCo) as a pilot under its energy aggregator model, where GreenCo acts as an intermediary off-taker. GreenCo will purchase electricity from the project under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), selling the energy into the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) Day-Ahead Market (DAM).

The project is being developed by Serengeti Energy Ltd and Western Solar Power Ltd. Since 2021; the project has experienced rising costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and additional work requirements. The SEFA Covid-19 IPP Relief Programme has been instrumental in addressing these challenges. SEFA’s USD 8 million concessional loan will bridge the viability gap and restore the project’s financial sustainability while also supporting a pioneering initiative with strong demonstration potential. SEFA’s involvement also helped mobilize additional financing from the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, FMO, which providesboth subordinated and senior loans.

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, Serengeti Energy is domiciled in Mauritius with regional offices in Nairobi, Kenya, Cape Town, South Africa and Dakar, Senegal. Currently, we operate power plants with a combined capacity of 74 MW across Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Malawi and have a portfolio of projects in advanced development in Senegal and Zambia.

As stated on the company's LinkedIn account, Western Solar Power (WSP) represents the cutting edge of solar development in Zambia. Established by Zambians, WSP was formed not only to address the deficit of energy supply in the country, but to do so through local innovation, community partnerships, and alongside international investment. As the Originator and developer of the pioneering 25MW Ilute Solar project, WSP is demonstrating how our unique approach can unlock systemic challenges, and provide the roadmap for electrification of the Southern African region.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Western Power Company Limited (“WPC”) Client Energy contracts with Serengeti Energy Ltd. 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/

How it works

How it works