Burkina Faso - Desert to Power - Electrification and Power Connection Development Project (PEDECEL)

The Electrification and Power Connection Development Project (PEDECEL) is an investment project in keeping with the Burkinabe Government’s vision of achieving access to power for all by 2030 and with the Bank’s Desert to Power Initiative aimed at harnessing solar potential in eleven (11) Sahel countries, including Burkina Faso, to facilitate the achievement of the power-for-all objective. Burkina Faso’s power access rate is one of the lowest in the West African subregion. At the end of 2020, the national rate was 22.5% compared with an average sub-regional rate of 40%. The Government of Burkina Faso has set itself the target of achieving a national power access rate of 60% by 2027, with 90% in urban areas and at least 30% in rural areas. The experience of recent power projects has revealed that the payment of connection charges is a serious impediment to the connection of low-income households to the grid. This project is not only in line with the objective of expanding the distribution grid, but will also remove that obstacle. The estimated project cost is UA 115.5 million and will be co-financed by ADF, SEFA, EIB, BADEA, POWER AFRICA WAEP, the Government and SONABEL. The project implementation period will be 51 months from October 2021 to December 2025.