Africa > East Africa > Burundi > Geothermal energy development in Rift Valley countries

Burundi: Geothermal energy development in Rift Valley countries

2013/09/06

In its bid to assist African Rift Valley nations in the development of geothermal energy resource, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) have signed a memorandum of considerate for cooperation in the field.

According to the agreement initialed by the two parties here Wednesday, the AUC and ICEIDA will work together to develop and implement geothermal energy policy inclunding investment , regulatory and institutional guidelines, part other areas, in eleven African Rift Valley countries

In 2012, the AUC, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Improvment(BMZ) and the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund through KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) established the 50-million-euro Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) for African Rift Valley nations to provide grants for geothermal resource exploration and drilling projects.

GRMF started with five pilot nations -- Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – and, currently, the facility covers eleven nations inclunding Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea and Zambia.

PANA reports that following the signing of the transaction with ICEIDA here Wednesday, the AUC said it was mobilising additional funds to finance projects in all these nations.

AUC’s Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Elham M. A. Ibrahim and ICEIDA Director General Engilbert Gudmundsson initialed the memorandum.

ICEIDA is by presently implementing a geothermal exploration project, which it jointly funds with the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) in 13 East African nations - Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DRC Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The project, which is part of a geothermal compact between the World Bank and Iceland, provides support for geothermal surface exploration and capacity building.

Possible areas of collaboration between the AUC and ICEIDA include development of geothermal database and database management plan at regional and national levels, facilitating easy accessibility for both developers and partners, and explore the potential to establish a Regional Geothermal Training Institute, with the view to providing an organised skill training and skill-development system for professionals in the geothermal energy science.

Through its Department of Infrastructure and Energy, the AUC has signed similar memoranda with the German government and EU-Infrastructure Trust Fund, the US Agency for International Development and the UN Environment Programme for development of geothermal energy resource in the Rift Valley nations.

Related Articles

Children on the move from Africa do not first aim to go to Europe, new UNICEF study shows
2017/07/29 Children on the move into Europe from Africa take the decision to leave home on their own and do not initially intend to go to Europe. For the majority the systematic trauma and abuse they witnessed or suffered in Libya caused them to flee to Europe and take the terrifying Central Mediterranean sea route, according to a new study commissioned by UNICEF and carried out by REACH.
WHO lauds Africa’s progress in malaria, HIV control
2017/07/29 The World Health Organisation (WHO), has commended the African region for making significant evolution in malaria control in the last five years. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said malaria incidence and mortality rates had declined by 42 % and 66 % respectively between 2000 and 2015. Moeti made the commendation in Kigali, Rwanda, while speaking at the Initial Africa Health Forum, launched by WHO, Africa and the Government of Rwanda.
Burundi’s inflation slows to 18.8 pct yr/yr in May
2017/07/19 Burundi's inflation rate slowed to 18.8 % year-on-year in May from 19.4 % in April, thanks to a fall in food price increase on local markets, official data showed on Thursday. Food inflation in the East African national rose to 27.8 % in the year to May, down from 30.2 % in April, the Institute of Economic Studies and Statistics (ISTEEBU) said.
South Africa plays an active role in the AU
2017/07/17 Absence of Zuma and Ramaphosa raises eyebrows, quoted Liesl Louw-Vaudran, a consultant at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), who said South Africa was “ceding power to other players on the continent, such as Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and the current AU chairperson President Alpha Condé of Guinea”.
Africa: How to Adapt to Beat Crippling Droughts
2017/07/17 Right presently, 14 million people across southern Africa face going hungry due to the prolonged drought brought on by the strongest El Niño in 50 years. South Africa will import half of its maize and in Zimbabwe as a lot of as 75 % of crops have been abandoned in the worst-hit areas. With extreme weather, such as failed rains, and drought projected to become additional likely as a result of climate change, some farmers are by presently taking matters into their own hands, and pro-actively diversifying the crops they grow.