Togo, a small West African nation, is poised for a significant boost in its renewable energy capacity. In May 2025, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a financing package of €26.5 million to support the construction of a new solar power plant in central Togo. This investment will finance a 62 megawatt-peak (MWp) photovoltaic plant near the city of Sokodé, marking a major milestone in Togo’s push toward sustainable power and energy self-sufficiency. The project is not just about adding generation capacity – it symbolizes a strategic shift from costly, polluting energy sources to clean, affordable electricity. The following analysis provides an in-depth look at the stakeholders, financial structure, expected economic benefits, and broader implications of this project for Togo and the wider West African region.
Background
Togo’s energy sector has historically struggled to meet demand. For decades, the country relied heavily on imported electricity from neighbors such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire to bridge its supply gaps. By 2023, over 50% of Togo’s electricity consumption – about 1.1 terawatt-hours – was still coming from imports. This dependence left Togo vulnerable to external disruptions and price fluctuations, and frequent power shortages in the 2000s led to rolling blackouts that hindered industrial output and economic growth. To address the crisis, Togo commissioned a 100 MW tri-fuel thermal plant in Lomé in 2010 with international support, which temporarily tripled the country’s domestic generation capacity. While this reduced the immediate shortfall, the solution was based on fossil fuels and did not fully solve the issues of high generation costs or sustainability.
Recognizing the need for a long-term transformation, the Togolese government set ambitious targets for renewable energy and access. It aims to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, up from a national access rate of around 43% in 2018 (with rural access then as low as 16%). In parallel, Togo is pursuing a goal of installing 200 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, which would significantly diversify its energy mix. Over the past few years, Togo has made notable strides toward these objectives. In 2021, it inaugurated the 50 MW Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed solar plant in Blitta – at the time one of the largest solar farms in West Africa – financed under a UAE-led initiative. That plant now supplies electricity to tens of thousands of households and demonstrated Togo’s commitment to large-scale solar development. More recently, in April 2025, Togo launched the construction of a 25 MW solar facility in Dapaong (along with battery storage) to serve the northern Savanes region. These projects form part of a broader strategy, including rural electrification programs (like the off-grid CIZO initiative) and grid upgrades, to ensure that both urban and rural populations gain access to reliable power.
Against this backdrop, the new Sokodé solar plant represents the next leap forward in Togo’s renewable energy rollout. Once operational, the Sokodé facility will be the country’s second grid-connected solar farm (after Blitta) and the largest so far by capacity. Importantly, it emerged from a competitive bidding process, reflecting Togo’s efforts to encourage private-sector participation in the power sector. In December 2023, during the COP28 climate summit, the Togolese government signed a 25-year concession agreement with international partners to develop this project. The agreement – inked in the presence of Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé – granted the rights to build and operate the Sokodé plant to a consortium led by French companies. This set the stage for the AfDB and others to structure a financing package in 2024-2025, aligning with global initiatives like “Mission 300” (a joint AfDB-World Bank effort to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030). The Sokodé project thus sits at the intersection of Togo’s national electrification agenda and continent-wide sustainable energy goals.
Key Facts
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Project: 62 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in Sokodé, Togo (central region). Includes an 11 km transmission line to feed the power into the national grid. The plant will be built on a greenfield site in Salimdè (near Sokodé) and operated as an independent power producer under a 25-year concession.
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Stakeholders – International: The African Development Bank (AfDB) is the lead financier, approving €26.5 million in loans for the project. The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) – a multi-donor trust fund managed by AfDB – is providing a concessional loan of €8 million as part of that package. Proparco, the private-sector arm of France’s development agency, is co-financing the project (expected to cover a significant portion of the remaining cost). On the private side, Électricité de France (EDF), one of Europe’s largest utility companies, is the project developer and will handle engineering, construction, and operation. Meridiam, a French infrastructure investment firm, is partnering with EDF and has secured the rights to finance, build, and run the plant for 25 years. The involvement of these international stakeholders brings technical expertise and financial muscle to the venture.
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Stakeholders – Domestic: The Government of Togo is a key enabler, having awarded the concession and set the regulatory framework. The contract was signed by the Ministry of Energy on behalf of Togo, and the state will be the off-taker of the electricity generated. Togo’s national electric utility (Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo, CEET) is expected to purchase the solar power under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) – ensuring a market for the plant’s output. Local agencies and authorities will also be involved in aspects like permitting, land allocation, and community engagement.
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Financial Structure: Total project cost is €61 million. The AfDB’s contribution is structured as an €18.5 million senior loan from the Bank itself, plus a €8 million concessional loan via SEFA. These funds help lower the overall financing cost. Proparco is expected to provide additional debt (and/or risk guarantees) to cover a substantial part of the project cost, while Meridiam/EDF will likely supply equity capital. This blend of financing – combining development bank loans, a concessional tranche, and private equity – is designed to de-risk the project and attract investor confidence in a frontier market. The structure exemplifies a public-private partnership model for infrastructure.
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Energy Output: The solar plant will produce approximately 87 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of electricity per year under optimal conditions. This is enough to power hundreds of thousands of Togolese households. In fact, project developers estimate the Sokodé facility will provide clean energy to over 700,000 people in the surrounding communities – a significant contribution in a country of about 8 million. The injection of 87 GWh annually will help relieve Togo’s chronic energy deficits and reduce its reliance on imported power.
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Environmental Impact: By displacing fossil-fueled electricity, the plant is expected to cut Togo’s carbon emissions by about 13,600 tons of CO₂ per year. It will also avoid local air pollutants associated with diesel or heavy fuel oil generators. This supports Togo’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and AfDB’s “Light Up and Power Africa” initiative to promote clean energy across the continent. The project’s environmental and social assessments indicate minimal adverse impacts, as solar PV is a benign technology – though attention will be given to proper land use management and community consultations during construction.
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Timeline: The concession agreement was signed in late 2023, and construction is slated to begin by mid-2024. Build-out is expected to take around 18–24 months, meaning the plant could be operational by 2025 or early 2026 if all goes as planned. The 25-year operations period will then commence, during which EDF and Meridiam will run the facility and sell power to the grid. AfDB’s financing approval in May 2025 was a critical milestone, enabling financial close. Key upcoming milestones include groundbreaking, photovoltaic panel installation, grid interconnection, and eventual commissioning tests.
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Context and Comparison: Sokodé’s 62 MW project will leapfrog the Blitta solar farm (50 MW) to become Togo’s largest solar plant to date. It also stands out in West Africa, where grid-connected solar projects have been relatively scarce but are now picking up. For instance, neighboring Ghana and Benin have smaller operational solar installations (10–20 MW range), while Senegal and Burkina Faso have developed projects in the tens of MW. The Togo project’s successful financing could serve as a regional model, showing how multi-lateral lenders and private developers can co-invest in renewables in sub-Saharan Africa.
Economic and Financial Analysis
Local Economic Impact (Togo): The Sokodé solar project is poised to deliver a range of economic benefits for Togo. First and foremost, it will strengthen Togo’s energy security by adding a significant source of domestic generation. This means Togo can reduce expensive electricity imports (which currently supply more than half of its power) and save on foreign exchange outflows. Generating power at home from sunlight – a free resource – will lower the average cost of electricity production, especially since the AfDB and SEFA loans are on concessional terms. In practical terms, solar energy from Sokodé is expected to be cheaper per kilowatt-hour than running diesel generators or buying power from neighbors, thereby easing the financial burden on the national utility and, potentially, consumers. Over time, a more affordable and stable electricity supply could translate into lower electricity tariffs or reduced government subsidies, freeing public funds for other development needs.
The project’s construction and operation will also have direct and indirect economic effects. During the construction phase (estimated 12–18 months), over 200 local jobs are expected to be created. These include roles in civil works, installation of solar panels, electrical assembly, security, and site services. The involvement of local subcontractors for civil engineering, transport, and auxiliary services will inject money into the local economy around Sokodé. Once the plant is operational, it will employ technicians, maintenance staff, and administrators – albeit a smaller number than during construction – to ensure the facility runs smoothly for decades. Beyond these jobs, improved electricity access can stimulate broader economic growth: businesses in the Sokodé region and beyond will benefit from a more reliable power supply, avoiding losses from outages and enabling expansion. For example, with fewer power cuts, manufacturers can increase productivity and cold-storage facilities (important for agriculture and health sectors) can operate more dependably. Togo has seen in the past how better power availability supports investment – the 100 MW Lomé plant, once online, helped boost activity at the Port of Lomé and in manufacturing. The Sokodé solar plant is expected to have a similar catalyzing effect, this time with green energy. It will especially aid rural and semi-urban communities around Sokodé; many of these communities could gain grid connections for the first time thanks to the new power source, improving quality of life and enabling new small enterprises.
From a fiscal and macroeconomic perspective, shifting toward domestically produced solar power can reduce Togo’s vulnerability to global fuel price swings. In recent years, relying on imported electricity (some of which is generated from gas or oil in other countries) meant that Togo’s costs were partly tied to volatile international fuel markets. By using solar, Togo fixes a portion of its generation cost in the form of an upfront capital investment (mostly financed by long-term loans at fixed rates). Over the 25-year project life, this provides a hedge against fuel inflation. Moreover, the blend of financing in the Sokodé project – including a grant-like component via SEFA – lowers the required return and could make the delivered solar electricity quite competitive. Although the exact PPA tariff is confidential, concessional finance suggests it was possible to set an affordable price for the electricity while still ensuring the project’s viability. This benefits Togo’s utility (CEET), which has historically been indebted and financially strained. If CEET can purchase power at a low cost from solar IPPs, it can improve its financial health and invest in extending the grid to unserved areas, aligning with the universal access goal.
There are, of course, risks and challenges on the local front. Integrating a 62 MW intermittent source into Togo’s grid will require effective grid management. Solar output fluctuates with sunlight, so the utility must have balancing resources (like the existing thermal plant or imports or future storage projects) to maintain supply when solar generation dips (e.g. at night or cloudy times). The Sokodé plant does not include large storage capacity (unlike the smaller Dapaong project which has a battery system), meaning grid operators will need to plan for variability. However, given Togo’s current deficit, it is likely that virtually all solar production will be consumed readily during daytime hours. Another risk is off-taker risk – CEET’s ability to pay the IPP on time. To mitigate this, the project’s finance structure might include guarantees or letters of credit, possibly supported by the government. The fact that AfDB and Proparco are involved also adds confidence that contractual obligations will be met, as these institutions often work with governments to ensure support for strategic projects. Finally, there could be construction and operational risks: any delays in construction could defer the anticipated benefits and potentially increase costs. Choosing experienced firms like EDF and Meridiam helps reduce this risk, as they bring a track record in solar project delivery. EDF’s role as operator should also ensure knowledge transfer and capacity building for local engineers, which is a longer-term benefit for Togo’s human capital in the energy sector.
Regional and Broader Economic Implications: The significance of this project extends beyond Togo’s borders. In the context of West Africa, the Sokodé solar plant is an example of how international partnerships can realize renewable infrastructure in smaller economies. The African Development Bank’s involvement signals to the region that well-structured clean energy projects can attract major financing. This could have a demonstration effect for other countries in West Africa that are pursuing or considering similar solar ventures. For instance, countries like Benin and Sierra Leone, which have comparable energy profiles (low access rates and high import dependence), might look to replicate Togo’s model of blending public and private investment for solar farms. The project also reinforces momentum for the West African Power Pool (WAPP) vision of greater regional connectivity and energy trade. If Togo becomes more self-sufficient and even generates surplus power during the day, it could potentially reduce its imports from neighbors, freeing up some regional generation capacity that could be redistributed to other deficit areas. In the long run, as interconnection improves, Togo’s renewable projects might even allow it to export power on sunny days, for example sending electricity to Benin or Burkina Faso via the regional grid. This kind of south-south energy trade aligns with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) energy cooperation goals.
The project highlights the growing role of blended finance in Africa’s infrastructure development. By combining development bank funds with private sector investment, the Sokodé initiative illustrates a pathway to fund large-scale renewables in sub-Saharan Africa, where purely private financing might be hesitant due to perceived risks. AfDB’s concessional loan through SEFA is specifically aimed at “catalyzing further investments” by lowering risk. In West Africa’s nascent renewable energy market, such support is often crucial to kick-start projects. Over time, as more projects like this succeed, investors may become more comfortable with the market, potentially reducing the need for concessional elements. Additionally, the presence of Proparco (France) and the partnership of EDF and Meridiam signal strong European interest in Africa’s clean energy sector. This aligns with international initiatives to combat climate change by investing in green energy in developing regions. For the broader sub-Saharan region, it’s a positive example of North-South and multilateral collaboration: African institutions (AfDB), European agencies, and local government working in concert. It underscores a trend where African countries leverage global climate finance and expertise to solve local problems – in this case, electrification and carbon emissions.
Economically, increased renewable energy capacity can improve the competitiveness of West African economies. High electricity costs and unreliable supply have long been cited as barriers to industrial growth in the region. By bringing down the cost of generation, projects like Sokodé can help lower production costs for goods and services. This might make Togo (and similarly positioned countries) more attractive to industries such as agro-processing, textiles, or digital services that rely on power. Furthermore, the project contributes to diversifying the region’s energy mix. West Africa has historically leaned on hydropower (e.g., Ghana’s Akosombo Dam) and natural gas (Nigeria’s vast reserves) for power, but climate variability and fuel price swings have exposed the need for diversification. Solar energy provides a complementary source that peaks during daylight – conveniently matching the typical daily peak demand in many countries (which often occurs in the afternoon due to air conditioning, commercial activity, etc.). The Sokodé plant’s success could encourage policymakers across the region to accelerate regulatory reforms and tender programs for renewables. In fact, several West African nations are already following suit: Senegal and Mali have implemented solar IPP projects through competitive tenders, and Nigeria has begun signing solar agreements as it seeks to improve access in rural areas.
On a continental scale, the Sokodé project contributes to Africa’s progress toward sustainable development goals. With 600 million Africans still lacking electricity access, every new power plant – especially clean energy plants – is a step toward closing the energy gap in an environmentally responsible way. Togo’s efforts align with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and initiatives like the AfDB’s Desert to Power program (which aims to harness up to 10 GW of solar across the Sahel). Although Togo is not a Sahelian desert country, the spirit of Desert to Power – leveraging Africa’s solar potential for widespread benefit – is very much reflected here. The project also resonates with global climate finance priorities. As developing countries seek support to build green infrastructure, the €26.5 million AfDB investment in Togo demonstrates how climate finance can be channeled effectively. It is a relatively small sum in global terms, but for Togo it is transformative. If the model proves successful, it strengthens the case for scaling up such investments (for instance, larger solar fields or adding energy storage solutions in future).
In summary, the economic and financial analysis indicates that the Sokodé solar plant should yield substantial local benefits – more power, jobs, and lower costs – while also serving as a beacon for renewable energy development in the region. Nonetheless, success will depend on diligent execution and governance to manage the aforementioned risks.
Conclusion
The €26.5 million AfDB-backed solar project in Sokodé stands as a landmark initiative in Togo’s journey toward energy independence and sustainability. By bringing together the Togolese government, international financiers, and private sector specialists, the project exemplifies how collaborative investment can tackle Africa’s infrastructure challenges. Upon completion, the 62 MWp plant will significantly boost Togo’s domestic generation capacity with clean energy, helping the country inch closer to its 2030 targets for electrification and renewables. The anticipated outcomes – from tens of thousands of new households electrified, to improved grid stability and reduced carbon emissions – could transform socio-economic conditions in Togo. Communities in and around Sokodé will gain access to reliable power, businesses will have a stronger foundation to grow, and the nation as a whole will benefit from reduced energy costs and enhanced security of supply.
Crucially, this project also solidifies a financing template for similar endeavors. The blend of an AfDB loan, a SEFA concessional component, and co-financing from Proparco has shown that bankable renewable projects are achievable in low-income countries. The involvement of an experienced developer (EDF) and an investment fund (Meridiam) under a long-term concession provides confidence in the plant’s sustainable operation. If all goes as planned, the Sokodé solar plant will not only meet its immediate objectives but also serve as a proof-of-concept encouraging more green investments across West Africa. The ripple effects may be seen in new solar parks, wind farms, or even hybrid renewable projects sprouting in the region, supported by development partners and private investors who can point to Togo’s success.
That said, the true measure of this project’s impact will be seen in the coming years. As Togo integrates this new solar capacity, attention will turn to how effectively the power is utilized and how it influences the country’s development trajectory. Will Togo meet its electrification goals on schedule, and will businesses flourish with better power supply? Can the model be refined to attract even larger investments, perhaps without needing as much concessional support over time? The answers will depend on diligent project execution and continued reforms in Togo’s energy sector governance. What is clear now is that the AfDB’s investment has provided a critical spark to light up Togo’s renewable energy ambitions. In a neutral assessment, this project appears to carry more opportunity than risk: it aligns well with national and regional priorities, has a sound financial plan, and addresses a fundamental need. As the world pushes to combat climate change, such initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa exemplify the kind of win-win solutions – expanding energy access while cutting emissions – that development experts and economists advocate.
What to Watch
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Project Execution and Timeline: Monitor the construction progress in Sokodé. Will the project break ground by mid-2024 and deliver on time? Any delays in panel procurement, construction, or grid connection could postpone the benefits. Stakeholders will be watching if the plant can be commissioned by 2025/26 as targeted.
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Power Purchase and Utility Performance: The viability of the project long-term depends on the Togolese utility (CEET) honoring the PPA and effectively distributing the new power. Observers should watch CEET’s financial health and whether the government provides support as needed. Successful integration of the solar output without prolonged curtailment will be a key indicator of the grid’s readiness.
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Energy Access and Tariffs: As the plant comes online, does Togo make visible progress toward its goal of universal access by 2030? The connection of villages around the Sokodé region will be an important metric. Additionally, watch if electricity prices for consumers stabilize or drop as cheaper solar energy feeds into the grid – a potential relief for households and businesses.
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Further Renewable Investments: The Sokodé project is part of a pipeline – keep an eye on Togo’s remaining renewable targets. Upcoming projects may include expansions of existing plants (e.g. a planned scale-up of the Blitta solar farm to 70 MW) or entirely new installations (the government has identified other sites for solar and possibly wind). Successful commissioning of Sokodé could fast-track these plans.
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Regional Energy Trends: In West Africa, similar solar projects are on the horizon. Nigeria, for example, has several solar IPP agreements in the works; Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are exploring solar and wind additions. Watch if Togo’s example encourages regional frameworks for renewable energy investment or influences the West African Power Pool’s strategy for integrating renewables.
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Policy and Institutional Developments: Finally, observe any policy shifts or institutional strengthening in Togo’s power sector as a result of this project. The government may implement new regulations to facilitate public-private partnerships, improve utility regulation, or initiate programs (like training local solar technicians) in tandem with the project. Internationally, continued support from initiatives like SEFA or Mission 300 will be crucial – look for announcements of additional funding or new energy compacts involving Togo. Each of these factors will shape the long-term success and replicability of the Sokodé solar investment.
