Burkina Faso’s Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT) has ratified the concessional loan agreement signed between the government and China Export Import Bank (Eximbank) for the construction of a 25MW solar power plant at Donsin.

The loan agreement was signed in September 2023 and will support the construction of a 25MW solar plant with 5MW/20MWh of battery energy storage at Donsin in the Plateau-Central region. The project’s total investment cost is US$47.8 million.

Construction work is expected to take 15 months and the contractor has signed an agreement to start work using its own funds once the ALT approval is received, according to energy minister Yacouba Zabre Gouba.

The solar plant is expected to supply more than 50,000 households and increase domestic production by 45GWh a year. It will also provide a secure energy supply for the new international airport at Donsin, which is under construction.

The government plans to relocate Ouagadougou International airport, built in the 1960s and located in the densely populated centre of the country’s capital, to Donsin, some 35km northwest of the city.

According to the project management company Maitrise d'Ouvrage de l'Aeroport de Ouagadougou-Donsin (MOAD), work on the airport had reached 85% completion as of December 2023 and is due to be completed in 2025.

Construction of the airport has been divided into several lots. EGMS/ECW is undertaking work on the administrative buildings; China’s Sinohydro is constructing the technical block and control tower buildings; and a team of France’s Sogea-Satom and Kuwait’s Kharafi is building the 3.5km runway.

The airport will cover a total area of 4,400 hectares and will have a 17,000-square-metre terminal able to handle 1 million passengers a year.

Ouagadougou Donsin airport renderingSource: MOAD

The total cost of building Donsin airport is estimated at US$713.3 million. It is being funded by the state as well as donor agencies including the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), West African Development Bank (BOAD), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Saudi Fund for Development (SFD).

The airport project was targeted to be funded through a public-private partnership agreement. In October 2021, the government awarded a 30-year concession to a team of Paris-based investor and asset manager Meridiam and Aeroports de Marseille Provence (AMP), but this was cancelled in August 2023.

The government said the cancellation was due to several breaches noted in the agreement, including the tax regime and financial model. "The financial model also does not guarantee the sustainability of the sovereign structures of civil aviation,” said transport minister Anuuyirtole Roland Somda.

Following the termination, the authorities said they had found credible alternatives and would engage in discussions with project partners to start a more reliable and profitable partnership for the general interest of the nation.