Burkina Faso Secures $300m Financing for Largest-Ever Power Plant to Cut Energy Deficit

West Africa WeeklyJuly 22, 20261 Mins read15

Burkina Faso has secured a $300 million financing package to build its largest-ever power plant, a 119-megawatt thermal facility in Ouagadougou that is expected to reduce the country’s dependence on imported electricity by more than half and improve power supply in one of Africa’s least electrified nations.

The project is being financed by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which has already disbursed the first $60 million tranche to Turkish power generation company Aksa Enerji Üretim A.Ş., the developer of the plant. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2027.

Currently, only about one-fifth of Burkina Faso’s 24 million population has access to electricity, and roughly 60 per cent of the country’s power supply is imported from neighbouring countries. The new plant is expected to cut that reliance by more than 50 per cent, providing reliable baseload power to stimulate manufacturing, mining and other productive sectors.

Samaila Zubairu, President and Chief Executive Officer of AFC, said reliable electricity remains essential for Africa’s industrial ambitions. “Africa’s path to industrialisation and global competitiveness by 2050 depends on the infrastructure decisions we make today,” Zubairu said. “Without dependable power, countries cannot industrialise, businesses cannot grow, and communities cannot realise their full economic potential.”

The financing marks AFC’s first investment in Burkina Faso and expands the institution’s partnership with Aksa Energy, following a $150 million corporate loan facility provided to the Turkish company in 2025 to support gas-fired power projects in Senegal and Ghana. AFC has invested over $19 billion across 36 African countries since its establishment in 2007.

Cemil Kazanci, Chairman of Aksa Energy, described the Burkina Faso project as another milestone in the company’s African expansion strategy. “Together with AFC, we are delivering critical energy infrastructure that will strengthen energy security, support economic development and improve the reliability of electricity supply for millions,” Kazanci said. Aksa Energy operates more than 3,500 megawatts of installed capacity across eight countries and has developed over 40 power plants using various technologies.