African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina on Monday hailed Morocco’s “remarkable” commitment to renewable energy.
“Morocco, under the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has made remarkable progress in the field of renewable energy,” Adesina noted at a press briefing on the sidelines of the AfDB Annual Meetings, held under the theme “Fostering Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa.”
On this occasion, Adesina highlighted the Noor Ouarzazate complex, one of the largest solar parks in the world financed by the AfDB.
He also stressed that the Bank wants to repeat the feat of this complex with the project “Desert to Power” which aims to provide energy to 250 million people in the countries that make up the Sahelian band using the energy sources available in abundance in the region.
With a necessary investment of $20 billion to finance power plants that produce electricity from clean sources, the goal of this project is to produce 10 GW.
These 57th assemblies, which mark a return to face-to-face meetings after the virtual meetings of the last two years, will be an opportunity to discuss ways to facilitate the energy transition of Africa in a context marked by climate change, whose impact is already remarkable on the countries of the continent.
The objective of these assemblies, whose theme is aligned with the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) scheduled to take place in Egypt in November, is to discuss ways to help African countries adapt to climate change, particularly through the mobilization of necessary resources.
The governors, representing the 54 African countries and the 27 non-regional member countries of the institution, will have a high-level dialogue with Mr. Adesina and his team.
The Annual Meetings are the AfDB’s most important event. They bring together about 3,000 delegates and participants each year.
They allow the institution to review progress with its shareholders and provide a unique forum for exchange on key issues affecting Africa’s development for representatives of governments, business, civil society, think tanks, academia and the media.
