Powering Up Africa: Let There Be Light

“It's a great joy,” says Thomas Bissafi, the village chief of Danzi, a town in Central African Republic about 18 kilometers away from the capital of Bangui that is now home to a new solar park. 

“It's helping to develop the country. I can already see a lot of people buying land to settle in our village. Companies have also set up their businesses here, and things are moving forward. Young people in my village had nothing to do and were unemployed. With the arrival of Danzi solar park, they will find opportunities”. 

From this week, the new 25-megawatt Danzi solar park with battery storage will start powering the homes and lives of 250,000 residents in the capital city of Bangui and its surroundings (about 30% of the population), nearly doubling the country’s electricity generation capacity. Residents in Bangui used to face up to 16 hours of load shedding with health facilities, schools, and shops with no electricity. Now they will have much greater access to power, driving productivity and job creation.

Plagued by decades of conflict, political instability and low growth, CAR has one of the world’s highest rates of poverty – almost 7 out of 10 people are extremely poor. More than half are unable to afford enough food, and just 2.5% of CAR’s road network is paved. According to the most recent poverty assessment for the country, lack of access to infrastructure – such as electricity – poses a major obstacle to poverty reduction in CAR. With only 35% of people having access to electricity in the city of Bangui, 8% in main provincial towns, and just 2% in rural communities, scaling up investments in the energy sector is thus imperative to ending poverty while promoting growth that is sustainable and climate resilient.  

“The commissioning of such a large solar plant in CAR provides hope for other countries. Cleaner energy access at lower cost is not only essential to improve people’s lives but is also vital for creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet”, said Ashish Khanna, World Bank practice manager for energy. 

The Danzi solar plant will replace more than 90% of the energy currently produced by diesel, resulting in annual savings of $4 million in fuel costs for the government.  It will also contribute to a net reduction in emissions of 670,674 tons of CO2.

To fast track the construction of the solar park, the World Bank directly supported the government in procuring resources and supplies, overcoming bottlenecks in a complex and fragile environment. This is the result of a long-term engagement in the sector between the government and the World Bank, combining a $65 million grant from the World Bank's International Development Association (or IDA) for the emergency electricity supply and access project (PURACEL) and additional investments through the water and electricity services improvement project (PASEEL) and the electricity sector strengthening and access project (PARSE). As part of this engagement, the solar park is being complemented by the construction of five mini grids and electrification of more than 600 schools and hospitals and the installation of solar home systems.

“I'm delighted, because before I became village chief, I told my people that when I become chief, this village will become the city of Paris,” Thomas Bissafi adds, hopeful about the future.