In July 2020, in a meeting organized by the Global Off-Grid Solar Energy Industry, the Ministry of Energy of the ECOWAS member state announced the signature of the adapted bill exempting VAT for the production of renewable energies related to solar, wind and biogas energy.
This milestone establishes a new effort of the West African country in its way to promote the use of renewable energy to increase the energy access to the urban and rural population. In this context, the country also inaugurated at the beggining of the year the first utility-scale wind farm.
The new policy could offer also a significant push to the solar off-grid sector, stimulating green growth and job creation. The new measure could help businesses reach those most in need of electricity access, leading to more empowered consumers and more resilient communities.
The list of exempted products can be found in the document attached.
In Mali, the Council of Ministers also aproved the decision of establishing customs exemption on renewable energy equipment in March 2020, as a way of promoting the development of renewables in the country. The measure applies to equipment such as solar panels, wind turbine blades, pump turbines and others. For the Government of the country, the exemption of this equipment will allow the improvement of the energy mix, the continuation of investments in solar energy and contribute to the commitments made in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and promotion of clean energies.
