The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) work in clean energy financing was commended last week by Asian Development Bank President (ADB) Takehiko Nakao.

At the 6th annual meeting of the Asia Solar Energy Forum (ASEF) on Solar Energy Technology Trends and Opportunities held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nakao lauded the AfDB for its commitment to promote clean energy investments in Africa.

In his speech, the President pointed that Africa, which to him, has better solar energy resources than Asia, must exploit those resources prudently to fuel its development.

He went on to stress the need for collaboration among development finance institutions (DFIs), highlighting a seminar later in the conference where the African Development Bank would share its expertise on financing solar projects.

Youssef Arfaoui, Chief Renewable Energy Specialist, Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, who represented the AfDB at the conference said that investing in renewable was important to ensure “the energy mix.”

According to him, the collaboration with the ADB was key to the operations of both banks and would help both institutions to exchange ideas, structure and solve issues related to complex projects, and facilitate risk mitigation.