Madagascar will soon have a 30 MW- 40 MW solar power plant. The infrastructure will be constructed as part of of the Scaling Solar program from which Zambia and Senegal benefited.

The government of Madagascar and International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed an agreement regarding the establishment and submission offer of a solar energy partnership. “The project relies on a clean and readily available source of energy, in order to cut production costs of Jirama, Madagascar’s power utility, and insure a more stable power supply,” ICF said in a statement.

Launched by the World Bank, Scaling Solar aims to facilitate the implementation, in Africa, of private equity funded solar projects. “Our role is to help the government establish a transparent system at the various stages of the project. The main thing is that contract awarding does not exceed 12 months,” said Coralie Gevers, World Bank’s representative in Madagascar.

The government of Madagascar has also recently been approached by the American firm Fluidic Energy, which specializes in solar-based rural electrification. Moreover, the Nigerian group Dangote revealed it was interested in investing in Madagascar’s power industry.

About 15% of Madagascar has access to electricity. The country is currently experiencing extended power outages.

Gwladys Johnson