Arop
By Emmanuel Garjiek
The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Monday announced that funding will be made available to support the purchase of energy from neighboring Uganda to South Sudan.
Themba Bhebhe, AfDB South Sudan Country Manager, told reporters in Juba that the project will be funded equally by the bank and the European Union. He said that the project is currently in advanced stages and might be completed in the second quarter of this year.
“Yes, the project was approved in the first week of December 2024 by our board, and it is almost about USD 200 million. We have to announce that we are financing that project with the EU, who are giving us about USD 50 million, and we are putting in the balance,” he disclosed. “So, at this stage, we should be signing a financing agreement with the government and the EU and also launching the project formally.”
He stated that the project will be conducted directly by the energy utility business, with multinational corporations serving as subcontractors.
“This is about a five-year project, assuming that there is peace along that corridor, and we do not anticipate any problem that can disturb the implementation of that project,” he stated. “So, yes, I can confirm that the bank has mobilized enough resources in partnership with the EU to implement the project, According to Bhebhe, after the project is completed, the cost of energy in South Sudan would drop from 42 cents per kilowatt hour to 12 cents per kilowatt hour.
“The challenge that South Sudan is facing now in terms of electricity is three-dimensional, in terms of supply, enough generation, the distribution, and the cost. So, I think the answer is in the cost. So, the cost, like I was saying, from the studies that we have done, is that it costs about 42 cents per kilowatt hour, average tariff, that the South Sudanese pay,” he explained. “Obviously, it depends on whether you are domestic or industrial, but that is the average. So, if you look at the region now, it costs about an average, from what I understand of about 10 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour, which means the South Sudanese pay four times higher than their counterpart in the region.”
“So what that project is going to do is to significantly reduce tariffs to about an average of about 11 or 12 cents per kilowatt hour,” Bhebhe added .
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