Country: Burkina Faso

After Mali and Guinea, Burkina Faso is yet another West African country that witnessed a military coup over the weekend. Confirming several rumous, the army had declared yesterday that it has ousted President Kabore. Citing the deterioration of the security situation, including the rising Islamist insurgency, the army has halso suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed Burkina Faso’s borders. The statement was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and made in the name of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration, a previously unheard-of entity.

Last week, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, FMO, announced the completion of financing and contracting for 110 MWp of solar PV capacity in Burkina Faso. In total, four different solar projects are now entering the construction phase: Kodeni Solar (38 MWp), Nagreongo-SPES Ouagagoudou (30 MWp), Quadran Burkina Faso (24 MWp) and Dedougou Solar (18 MWp). FMO is the prime lender to all projects, representing 52% to 65% of the debt raised for each facility. Its co-financiers include Proparco, the private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency (AFD), and the Interact Climate Change Facility (ICCF), a European co-financing vehicle notably involving the AFD, BIO, DEG, Finnfund, Norfund, OeEB, Proparco, SIFEM and Swedfund. FMO is proving a total of €90m for the projects, while the ICCF is providing €20.9M and Proparco the remaining €15.9m. The S.P.E.S Ouagadougou facility in Nagréongo remains the most advanced of the four projects. It officially broke ground in October 2020 during a ceremony presided over by Minister of Energy Dr. Bachir Ismaël Ouedraogo. Out of 344 MW of grid-connected generation capacity in Burkina Faso last year, only 60 MW was from renewable energy sources. By the time all new solar plants are completed and operational, the country’s total installed power generation capacity will have climbed to 456 MW. Almost 38% of the country’s energy mix will then rely on renewable energy.

Earlier today, Meridiam signed a 30-year concession agreement with the State of Burkina Faso for the conception, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new international airport 35km northeast of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. The project is now progressing towards financing close. The engineering and construction works are expected to start at the end of 2022 and last for about 30 months. Meridiam has partnered with Aéroport Marseille-Provence (AMP) as a technical partner under a technical assistance contract. AMP will also be a minority shareholder in the special purpose vehicle set up for the project. The project is expected to cost about €220m (over $250m) and represents one of Bukina Faso’s biggest public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives. Once completed, the new Donsin international airport will replace the current Ouagadougou-Taamsê International Airport built in the 1960s and located in the centre of Ouagadougou.