Angola has secured US$900 million in financing for two solar power plants.

The direct loan is part of a US$1.3 billion financing package deal signed at a US-Africa business summit in Texas recently.

The two solar plants are expected to have a total 500 MW installed capacity. The loan from the US Export and Import (EXIM) Bank will cover the export of US equipment such as solar panel mounting systems, connectors, switches and other sensors, reports ESI Afrika.

The larger financing package deal includes a US$363 million loan guarantee from EXIM for the export of prefabricated steel bridges to improve bridge infrastructure on roads leading to the Lobito railway corridor that spans the country from the port of Lobito to the border with the DRC and near Uganda.

The US$900 million loan for the solar plants is EXIM’s biggest yet in sub-Saharan Africa and its largest renewable project.

Afrik21 reports that the solar project was announced in 2022 on the sidelines of the G7 summit and is an initiative of the Angolan government, in partnership with US companies AfricaGlobal Schaffer and Sun Africa.

According to EXIM, the solar project transaction falls under its China and Transformational Exports Programme, a government-mandated programme to support US exporters facing foreign competition from China.

Reta Jo Lewis, chairperson at EXIM, said the deal was ‘not only in line with President Joe Biden’s Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership but also advances US EXIM Bank’s efforts to promote clean energy exports, strengthen US-Africa trade relations, and support US exporters and workers facing foreign competition’.

21 May 2024
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