Rwanda: African Development Bank approves loans of $180 million to reinforce transmission and last mile connectivity

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has approved two loans amounting to $180 million to co-finance a major energy project that will extend electricity access to rural areas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Rwanda.

This follows the 26 May 2021 approval for $84.2 million from the resources of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the Bank Group, for the same project.

Financing for the Transmission System Reinforcement and Last Mile Connectivity project comprises $140 million from the African Development Bank sovereign window and a $40 million co-financing from the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), as well as resources from the ADF.

The project will entail the construction of over 1,000 km of medium voltage and 3,300 km of low voltage lines to boost last mile access. It will also build 137km of high voltage line and six substations required to strengthen the grid. Other features of the project include the installation or upgrading of more than 1,200 distribution transformers and related infrastructure.