UNB, Dhaka :
The government on Monday signed a loan agreement with the World Bank under which the lending agency will provide $78.4 million additional financing to further scale-up its support for the successful solar home systems (SHS) program of Bangladesh.
The credit for the additional financing to the ‘Bangladesh Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development II (RERED II) Project’ is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s soft loan arm.
The project will help install an additional 480,000 solar home systems that has emerged as a viable electrification option for areas without grid access to electricity.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) additional secretary Arastoo Khan and acting Head of World Bank, Bangladesh Christine E Kimes signed the agreement on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank respectively at a simple ceremony at the ERD in city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The IDA credit has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period and carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.
Implemented as a public-private partnership, the SHS program is currently installing over 70,000 solar home systems every month,
“Together, the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank is scaling up a program that delivered development results for millions of rural Bangladeshis,” said Christine E. Kimes, acting Head, World Bank Bangladesh.
“This is a proven model that works. Investing in electricity in rural areas empowers both men and women, leading to increased income and growth opportunities and reducing poverty.”
Currently, only 42 percent of the people in rural Bangladesh have access to electricity, and reliance on the grid alone will not achieve the Government’s vision of universal access by 2021.
The government on Monday signed a loan agreement with the World Bank under which the lending agency will provide $78.4 million additional financing to further scale-up its support for the successful solar home systems (SHS) program of Bangladesh.
The credit for the additional financing to the ‘Bangladesh Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development II (RERED II) Project’ is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s soft loan arm.
The project will help install an additional 480,000 solar home systems that has emerged as a viable electrification option for areas without grid access to electricity.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) additional secretary Arastoo Khan and acting Head of World Bank, Bangladesh Christine E Kimes signed the agreement on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank respectively at a simple ceremony at the ERD in city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
The IDA credit has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period and carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.
Implemented as a public-private partnership, the SHS program is currently installing over 70,000 solar home systems every month,
“Together, the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank is scaling up a program that delivered development results for millions of rural Bangladeshis,” said Christine E. Kimes, acting Head, World Bank Bangladesh.
“This is a proven model that works. Investing in electricity in rural areas empowers both men and women, leading to increased income and growth opportunities and reducing poverty.”
Currently, only 42 percent of the people in rural Bangladesh have access to electricity, and reliance on the grid alone will not achieve the Government’s vision of universal access by 2021.
