The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group Board has approved a Desert to Power financing facility of up to $379.6m to help the G5 Sahel countries increase their solar capacities for low-emission power generation.

Over the next seven years, the facility will be given to Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger via financing and technical assistance.

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The funding will be used for utility-scale solar generation via independent power producers (IPPs) and energy storage solutions.

The move is expected to add 500MW of solar capacity and offer clean energy to nearly 695,000 households.

In addition, it is anticipated to offset more than 14.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions over the projects’ lifespans.

The investments will be supported by a technical assistance component to improve implementation capacity, create an environment for private sector investments and ensure gender and climate mainstreaming.

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AfDB said that the facility will be part of its Desert to Power initiative, which aims to add 10GW of solar power capacity and supply clean energy to 250 million people in the 11 Sahelian countries by 2030.

AfDB Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth vice-president Dr Kevin Kariuki said: “The innovative, blended finance approach of the Desert to Power G5 Sahel Facility will de-risk, and therefore catalyse, private sector investment in solar power generation in the region.

“This will lead to transformational energy generation and bridge the energy access deficit in some of Africa’s most fragile countries.”

In October last year, the Green Climate Fund’s Board approved $150m in concessional resources for the Desert to Power financing facility.

The facility is also expected to use around $437m in additional funding from other financial institutions, commercial banks and private sector developers.

Last March, AfDB agreed to provide $530m in funding for a 343km, 400kV central-south transmission line in Angola.