Renewables investors flock to west Sahelian frontier

A flurry of solar power projects have advanced in the African region over the last six months as support from international development finance programmes starts to yield results

The landlocked countries of the western Sahel rarely catch the attention of international investors— not least those interested in the power sector—for whom the area’s poor and mainly rural populations and weak governance offer little commercial appeal. However, global development institutions have long recognised the potential for widening access to electricity to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty. And with vast expanses of sparsely populated, sun-baked land available and decarbonisation momentum building, a direct jump to solar power—skipping fossil fuels—makes monetary and environmental sense. Financing and technical support programmes to that end, notably from the African D