Angola will receive USD 417 million from the World Bank and France to improve the operational performance of the electricity sector utilities and increase electricity access in selected cities.
The Electricity Sector Improvement and Access Project will finance electrification investments in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Huila, and Huambo, delivering 196,500 new electricity connections that will benefit close to one million people and 93,857 public lights, according to the World Bank.
The project will focus on electricity access expansion and improvement of revenue collection, electricity service improvement, capacity improvement of the public electricity producer (PRODEL, Empresa Pública de Produção de Electricidade), and strengthening sustainable management of generation plants.
The total cost is USD 417 million, financed with a USD 250 million loan from the World Bank and a credit of USD 167 million from Agence Française de Développement.
The project also aims to increase the commercial performance of the national electricity distribution company (Empresa Nacional de Distribuição de Electricidade, ENDE) as well as provide financing to the national transport network Rede Nacional de Transporte, RNT) for targeted interventions to improve and optimize the dispatch of electricity supply and the overall management of the national transmission network.
Furthermore, the Project will also finance immediate measures to raise the operational, commercial and technical capacity of the three national power utilities, leading to significant electricity service improvement.
Angola’s power generation capacity, largely based on hydropower, has developed at a fast pace with the national installed generation capacity quadrupling in just one decade, but transport, distribution and cost recovery remain very challenging.
According to World Bank data, less than 40 percent of Angolans have access to electricity, with inadequate electricity services impacting poverty, productivity and regional disparities.
Therefore, the project aims to deliver the most critical actions needed to help expand electricity access, improve the operational and commercial performance of utilities, and ultimately boost their creditworthiness. This, in turn, will contribute to reducing extreme poverty, improving the resilience of communities to impacts arising from COVID-19, and increasing shared prosperity.
