Africa to benefits from Austrian renewable energy expertise

The African Development Bank Group’s Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, has said that Africa in its journey to renewable energy, stands a chance to benefit from the expertise of Austria—a country largely powered from renewable sources.

Akin-Olugbade made this known in a statement published on the bank’s website on Tuesday.

“Austria is 80 per cent powered by renewable energy. The expertise of Austrian companies is extremely valuable for Africa which has abundant solar, hydro, wind and geothermal sources of energy,” Akin-Olugbade told Austrian members of parliament during a meeting Monday evening at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan.

“The African Development Fund has in past five years connected 15.5m people to electricity, supported 74m with improved agriculture, built or rehabilitated nearly 9,000 kilometres of roads. It has enabled 50m people to gain access to transport and allowed 42m people to access better water and sanitation services.

“Austria which joined the Bank in 1983, has participated in all General Capital Increases for the Bank and the replenishment of the African Development Fund. During the 16th replenishment of the Fund in December 2022, Austria contributed € 123m (about $135m), an increase of 12.6 per cent over the previous replenishment More than $8.9bb was mobilised during the 16th replenishment, the largest in the history of the Fund.

“Africa has an almost unlimited potential of solar capacity (11 TW), 350 gigawatts of hydro, 110 gigawatts of wind and 15 gigawatts of geothermal,” he added.

Akin-Olugbade thanked Austria for its continued support for the Bank and its concessional window, the African Development Fund, as well as to various trust funds and initiatives.

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