The African Development Bank (AFDB)- managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) approved a $995,000-grant to the Republic of  Gambia to implement a program to facilitate private investments in Green Mini-Grids (GMG), Allafrica reported.

The Bank noted that access to electricity in Gambia currently stands around 40% country-wide and 12% in rural areas, and is mostly powered by fossil fuel generation, which translates into one of the highest consumer tariffs in the West African region, According to ESI Africa.

The SEFA-funded project will support the preparation of appropriate policy and regulatory framework, develop technical standards and guidelines, carry out feasibility studies and structure a tender process to attract the most suitable investors and it will also provide technical and institutional capacity building on legal and regulatory issues.