(Ecofin Agency) - The African Development Bank granted Burkina Faso $74 million (about CFA39.37 billion) to support Epine dorsale Nord, the Nigeria-Niger-Benin-Togo-Burkina Faso electricity interconnection project.

According to the Burkinabe minister of economy and finance, the financing is broken into a $51.3 million loan and a $22.6 million donation.

In the framework of this project, a 330 KV power line will connect the five countries on over an area of 842 KM. Six transformers will also be constructed.  Epine dorsale Nord will allow energy exchange between the beneficiaries and  help connect a total of 294 localities (76 in Burkina Faso) to electricity.  

The project’s estimated cost is $317.9 million and it will be co-financed by the beneficiaries’ governments and development partners such as the French Development Agency and World Bank.

“AfDB will specifically support the construction of the transformers’ stations in Ouagadougou and the improvement of the country's grid to ensure optimal exploitation,” explained Pascal Yembiline, AfDB's representative in Burkina Faso. 

Gwladys Johnson Akinocho