NRECA International, an affiliate of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, today announced a contract with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to explore the feasibility of the electric cooperative business model in Nigeria and Ethiopia. The effort is part of AfDB’s goal of achieving universal electricity access across its member countries by 2025.
As part of the feasibility study, the NRECA International team will consider regulatory, legal, technical and socioeconomic factors that could impact the creation of electric cooperatives in the two nations. The contract will be implemented over the course of three months. The findings of the study will be delivered in May this year.
“The electric cooperative business model is effective and operational in many developing countries around the globe,” said Dan Waddle, NRECA International senior vice president. “NRECA International has helped develop and establish more than 250 electric cooperatives worldwide. We look forward to working with the African Development Bank to leverage our shared knowledge as we explore the best way to help them achieve their development goals.”
“The study is timely and aligned with AFDB’s New Deal for Energy in Africa, thanks to the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund for the financing of this impactful initiative,” said Batchi Baldeh, Director of Power Systems Development. “The Bank looks forward to working with NRECA International to execute the study, and to leveraging their extensive experience in electric cooperative business models to pave the way for the implementation of transformational pilot projects across Africa.”
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities. NRECA’s international affiliate—NRECA International – has worked in developing countries since 1962 and helped provide electricity access to more than 160 million people in 45 countries.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is a multilateral development finance institution, comprising three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the parent institution, and two affiliates, the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigerian Trust Fund, (NTF). The AfDB Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. The overall objective of the AfDB Group is to support the economic development and social progress of African countries individually and collectively, by promoting investment of public and private capital in projects and programs designed to reduce poverty and improve living conditions. Combating poverty is at the heart of the Bank’s efforts to assist the continent to attain sustainable economic growth.