World Bank approves US$340M for Great Lakes hydropower project

The Rusumo project

The World Bank last week approved US$340 million in financing for the US$468.6 million 80-megawatt Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project in Rwanda, Africa underlining the point that Guyana could have sought to win backing for the Amaila Project from this institution.

The cost per megawatt of this project at US$5.8 million is above the US$5.2 million pegged for the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP).

The future of Amaila is unclear following Sunday’s formal announcement by Sithe Global, the developer for AFHP, that it was withdrawing over the project’s failure to win political consensus. This came after the main opposition APNU voted against parliamentary measures aimed at enabling the venture. APNU, among other things, had cited the costs associated with the AFHP. President Donald Ramotar has since pledged that he would try to persuade the investors to stay on even