DAKAR (Reuters) - French development agency PROPARCO will provide an 18-year 35.5 million euro ($39.54 million) loan to finance the construction and operation of a solar energy plant in Senegal, which it says will be the largest of its kind in West Africa. The 30-MW plant, which be located about 100 km northeast of Dakar, will provide power to 226,500 residents when it becomes operational at the beginning of 2017, PROPARCO said in a statement on Wednesday. The project will involve investment firm Meridiam; Solairedirect, a French construction company that specialises in solar energy; and Schneider Electric, which is involved in electricity distribution and energy management. About 57 percent of the West African nation has access to electricity, according to the World Bank.