AfDB's loan of almost US$30M is about 40% of the total cost of the link, known as the Bujagali Power Interconnection Project (BIP). Other funds for the project are coming from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Uganda Electricity Transmission Co.
The link is being built to take electricity from the 250MW Bujagali plant, which recently began construction. Bujagali has been under development for years but finally, earlier this year, backing from the World Bank paved the way for funds to come from a range of sources.
Bujagali is being developed by Bujagali Energy, comprising Sithe Global Power LLC and Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya), which is the industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. The project is being built on a turnkey basis by Italian contractor Salini, and the commissioning deadline is 2011.
Total budget for the scheme is approximately US$735M, including the generation facility and connector which will involve about 100km of power line construction. Funding comes from the World Bank, the International Finance Corp (IFC), the European Investment Bank, and also the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.
AfDB's loan to the link brings its total funding to the Bujagali scheme to US$139M , which is for the main project and the transmission connection.
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