Benin: Financing for Defissol solar project

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Union (EU) have agreed to co-finance Benin’s first large-scale solar photovoltaic power project. A financing agreement totalling CFA39.4bn ($70.7m) was signed on 7 December by Benin’s economy and finance minister, Romuald Wadagni, and local representatives of the AFD and the EU to cover the cost of the 25MW Defissol project in the municipality of Pobé in southern Benin. The AFD will provide financing totalling CFA32.8bn while the EU will provide an additional CFA6.6bn, according to a statement from the French embassy in Benin.