The African Development Bank (AFDB) at the weekend said it had approved an equity investment of $25 million into the continent’s renewable energy fund (AREF) to fast track energy development.

This was disclosed in a statement made in Addis Ababa by the bank which also declared that the approval for the investment was given by the bank’s board of directors on Wednesday.

“The AFDB approved a $25million equity investment in the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) and acknowledge the mobilization of $39.5 million from other partners.

“The Energy Fund is a private equity fund that will invest in small to medium-sized renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, with a targeted fund size of $150 million to $200 million”, it stated.

The bank also said that Africa needed to adapt to climate change and embark on low-carbon growth paths, adding that estimated cost of such adaptation ranged from $22 billion to $31 billion per annum between now and 2015.

According to AFDB however, only few pan African infrastructure funds had scope to make clean technology investments.

It noted that there was a dearth of funds that were dedicated to renewable energy investment or had an investment focus targeting sub-Saharan Africa.

The bank moreover concluded that AREF would have a significant impact in facilitating greater private capital inflows into clean energy technology industries across Africa