The board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on 18 July approved an €18m financing package to support energy sector reform in Burkina Faso. The package will provide budget support for the government to help it put in place legal and regulatory structures which encourage investment into the sector. The government adopted a new strategy, called the Transformations industrielles et artisanales policy, in December 2017. The policy aims to diversify the energy mix, particularly increasing the amount of solar generation. The AfDB will disburse funds in support of the strategy in two tranches, first €12m then €6m, as it is implemented by the government. The institution hopes that on completion of the programme by the end of 2019 the electrification rate will have increased from 20% in 2016 to 25%, and that rural electrification will have doubled from 3.2% to 6%.
