Mali -Project Promoting Renewable Energy - Project Completion Report (PCR)
Mali's energy situation is characterised by a deficit in energy production, growing demand, a low national access rate to modern energy services (national rate 52% in 2020) and a strong spatial disparity marked by a very low rate in rural areas (24.08% in 2020). The country has significant national renewable energy resources, particularly solar and hydro-electric resources, which are under-exploited. The project's overall objective is to promote the development of renewable energy (RE) in Mali. Its specific objectives are to: (i) improve the political, legal, regulatory, and institutional framework favourable to renewable investments; build stakeholders' capacity, enhance knowledge management, communication and advocacy aimed at promoting RE; and (iii) improve the monitoring and evaluation system of the sub-sector, strengthen the programmatic approach within the framework of SREP-Mali. These objectives align with the Strategic Framework for Growth and Poverty Reduction (SFGPR 2012- 2018), the Strategic Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development (SFERD 2019-2023), the CSP 2015-2019 CSP and CSP 2021-2025. The energy sector faces major structural problems: thermal power generation, high imported fuel costs, high tariffs, weakness in the planning process, an inadequate regulatory framework, limited human and technical capacity, etc. Its development inevitably requires the adaptation of legislative and regulatory texts, which are often inadequate and obsolete because they no longer respond to the sector's current context characterised by the advent of the private sector and regional energy policies. It was necessary to consolidate, harmonize and ensure the coherence and application of the strategic frameworks, legislative texts, regulatory and financial mechanisms governing the sector and more particularly the RE sector.. The Bank has strongly supported the project, which stems from the SREP-Mali Investment Plan. The project's objectives are to contribute to the promotion of renewable energy by strengthening the legislative and regulatory framework and improving the institutional framework. The project's development objective is very relevant because it meets the country's real needs.