30 September 2021: FMO, NEoT Offgrid Africa (NOA) and Winch Energy Limited have invested c. US$12 million in mini-grid projects in Uganda and Sierra Leone, contributing to their global ambition to build the largest portfolio of mini-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa, and reach a portfolio worth US$100 million.

Thanks to this project, 49 villages in Sierra Leone and Uganda will be equipped with off-grid and remotely controllable solar solutions – Remote Power Units (RPU) – that will supply power to nearly 60,000 people. The RPU’s will be designed and manufactured by Winch Energy through their assembly facility in Sicily, Italy. In a second phase, 6,000 portable batteries will be deployed in these villages to serve people who live too far from the power unit. At the same time, partnerships with telecom operators will be established to guarantee Internet access for households.

Installation of the project has already started with the RPU’s for the first 13 villages shipped to Uganda. All 25 RPU’s are expected to arrive in Uganda before the end of 2021. An additional 12 village power plants are also already operational in Sierra Leone and providing customers with clean energy. The Uganda sites are expected to be operational in early 2022, while all 24 sites in Sierra Leone will be operational by Q2 2022.

This project contributes directly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, including among others:

• Accessible and clean energy (SDG7) by electrifying villages which currently have a limited access to electricity mainly derived from fossil fuels;
• Climate Action (SDG13) by promoting power generation from solar energy and contributing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Decent work and economic growth (SDG8) by supporting local employment with at least 65 local permanent jobs created and many more during the construction phase.
• Poverty alleviation (SDG1), good health and well-bring (SDG3) and quality education (SDG4) through connecting businesses, schools and health centers to reliable and clean electricity
• Effective public-private and civil society partnerships (SDG17 “Partnerships for the goal”) with the involvement of both Uganda and Sierra Leone governments, international agencies as well as private sector actors.

Winch Energy IPP Holdings Limited (WIPP), where NOA is the main shareholder, is the new investment platform for those projects. FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, has arranged a syndicated facility where FMO (through the Access to Energy Fund) and the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) – managed by Camco Clean Energy (Camco) - will lend to WIPP a first tranche of c. US$ 4 million for the portfolio of mini grids in Uganda and Sierra Leone. A second tranche of up to US$ 6 million is also included in the facility to finance future projects since WIPP plans to expand its operations in Sierra Leone, Uganda and to other countries.

Quotes from representatives of NOA, WEL, REPP & FMO

Huub Cornelissen, Energy Director of FMO said “Supporting renewable energy programs is key to FMO’s strategy, as lack of access to energy is one of the biggest barriers to development. Mini-grids are seen as essential to increasing access to electricity and, as such, are becoming part of FMO’s core strategic focus. Closing this first mini-grid debt transaction represents a major milestone for FMO and an important contribution to further develop the sector. The partnership with Winch and NOA proves that mini-grids can be financed at scale and efficiently by creating a cross-country portfolio of assets. The addition of a facility for future projects allows for scale and provides the developers with an efficient funding source for the deployment of additional mini-grids.”

Nicholas Wrigley, CEO of Winch Energy said: “We are obviously delighted with the closing of this debt financing from FMO and REPP Camco, which represents a landmark for the off-grid industry in Africa and Worldwide. This first tranche represents the beginning of our investment program with our partner NOA and soon to follow will be additional investments in Sierra Leone and Uganda and we are also targeting Nigeria and Ethiopia for 2022. The teams at Winch Energy and NOA have worked extraordinarily hard to bring about this innovative debt financing and for that I wish to thank them.”

Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director of Camco, said: “Solar-powered mini-grids have a vital role in enabling countries in Africa to meet their climate action targets while providing affordable, reliable and sustainable energy access to underserved rural communities. As REPP's investment manager we are excited to be participating in both Sierra Leone's and Uganda's first large-scale mini-grid programmes, which will serve as a template for the wider roll out of mini-grids in the surrounding markets."

Philippe Ringenbach, CEO of NEoT Capital, President of NOA, said: “NOA is very proud to participate in this ambitious project alongside Winch Energy and two of the most active lenders in African offgrid market. This transaction reinforces NOA's position as a leading provider of innovative financing in the renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has huge potential and an equally huge need for financing.”

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About NEoT Offgrid Africa: NEoT Offgrid Africa (NOA) is an investment platform designed to support Africa's energy transition by addressing the issues of energy access. Founded and owned by Meridiam (as majority shareholder), EDF and Mitsubishi Corporation, NOA provides its partners with innovative financing solutions to remove barriers to upstream investment, deployment of new technologies and commercial risk management. NOA is managed by NEoT Capital, which is a company dedicated to supporting the energy transition to a carbon-free world. Founded by leading industrialists, NEoT creates and manages investment platforms that finance the deployment of zero-emission equipment based on innovative energy storage solutions. NEoT brings together a team experienced in financial structuring and clean energy solutions, and relies on international strategic partners to provide the financial and operational support needed to develop carbon-free solutions.

About Meridiam: Meridiam was founded in 2005 by Thierry Déau, with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sector can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communities. Meridiam is an independent investment Benefit Corporation under French law and an asset manager. The firm specializes in the development, financing, and long-term management of sustainable public infrastructure in three core sectors: mobility, energy transition and environment, and social infrastructure. With offices in, Addis Ababa, Amman, Dakar, Istanbul, New York, Luxembourg, Paris, Toronto and Vienna, Meridiam currently manages US$18 billion and more than 90 projects and assets to date. Meridiam is certified ISO 9001: 2015, Advanced Sustainability Rating by VigeoEiris (Moody’s) and applies a proprietary methodology in relation to ESG and impact based on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more information, visit: www.meridiam.com.

About Winch Energy Limited: Winch Energy is a global, off-grid renewable energy developer, operator and technology developer and integrator. Through its Remote Power Unit, the “RPU”, it provides a three utility solution for people around the world without access to electricity, internet or clean water. Winch Energy currently operates in five countries across Africa, with two key projects currently under construction in Sierra Leone and Uganda. Formed in 2008 by Nicholas Wrigley, who remains a significant shareholder, Winch Energy is owned by Winch Partners, Total Eren S.A., Al Gihaz Holding and Itochu Europe PLC. For more information, visit: www.winchenergy.com.

About REPP: The Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), managed by Camco Clean Energy, works to mobilise private sector development activity – and investment – in small to medium-sized projects (typically up to 25MW). It is supported with £148m funding from the UK’s International Climate Finance through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and to date, has agreed contracts with 29 renewable energy projects across 16 countries, employing 7 different technologies, from SHS and PV mini-grids to on-shore wind and run-of-river hydro. For more information, visit: www.repp.energy.

About Camco Clean Energy: Camco Clean Energy is a specialist fund manager focused on renewable energy, climate finance and impact in emerging markets. We offer elegant and practical financing solutions to lead the clean energy transition, pairing the conscience of a development bank with the agility of a small private company. Camco manages REPP and in November 2020 was approved to become an Accredited Entity of the Green Climate Fund. The company has offices in Accra, Helsinki, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi and Toronto. For more information, visit: www.camco.energy.

30 September 2021: The German government will contribute €100 million to the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), affirming its commitment to efforts to tap Africa’s renewable energy potential and drive its transition to clean energy sources.

The announcement came during the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Energy, held in New York on 24 September as part of the UN General Assembly.  

The funding will go to unlock private sector investment in green-baseload projects, a SEFA priority focus. Specifically, it will support technical assistance and investment in power generation, transmission and distribution to increase penetration of renewable power in African grids. The funding follows Germany’s initial contribution to SEFA of €50 million, made in 2020.

Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, said during the High-Level Dialogue: “We need to accelerate the global energy transition. This requires the rapid phasing out of all fossil fuels and a massive expansion of renewable energy. The time to act is now.”

The financing aligns with the G20 Compact with Africa launched during Germany's tenure of the G20 Presidency. The Compact promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reform to attract more private investment in Africa.  

Dr. Daniel Schroth, the Bank’s Acting Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, said, “Germany’s new contribution is a major boost towards SEFA’s capitalization target of $500 million. It is also recognition of the catalytic role SEFA has been playing in accelerating Africa’s energy transition and supporting clean energy access solutions.”

SEFA is a multi-donor special fund that aims to unlock private sector investments that contribute to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services for all in Africa, in line with the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa strategy and Sustainable Development Goal 7. SEFA has received contributions from the Government of Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Nordic Development Fund, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.

• 1.3 million people connected to decentralized power
• Across 9 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Impacting 6.5 million lives

6 October 2021: ENGIE Energy Access (EEA) is delighted to announce that within 1 year of integrating its decentralized energy businesses, it has considerably expanded its customer base and is now delivering safe and reliable solar energy to 6.5 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

EEA has acquired approximately 200,000 new customers across its 9 markets of operation in Africa throughout 2021, despite the challenges that COVID-19 created – bringing its customer base to more than 1.3 million. Key 2021 milestones achieved to date include a growth in customers in Uganda to 600,000, Zambia to 250,000, Benin to 150,000, and Mozambique to 50,000.

In April 2021, EEA began gradually rolling out its new solar home system (SHS) customer brand, MySol, replacing the Fenix Power and Mobisol brands. With MySol, EEA offers the widest range of PAYGo SHS throughout Africa and caters to all kinds of customers, from off-grid families lighting up with clean energy for the first time, to entrepreneurs running businesses of all sizes.

EEA has equipped 13 villages with its ENGIE PowerCorner mini-grids to date, comprising 3,000 households and 200 businesses. In the past year, it has successfully strengthened the mini-grid pipeline, securing over 180 additional projects – including 60 mini-grids approved in Zambia and 11 more in Benin. EEA is focused on continuing to build out the pipeline with 3 mini-grids under construction in Benin, Nigeria and Uganda, and more pilots on the way.

“I am pleased with the excellent results we have achieved within the first year of integrating our decentralized energy solutions companies. We have strengthened synergies between our solar home system and mini-grid businesses by decreasing costs, gaining in operational efficiencies and relying on strong digital tools, such as our PAYGo platform,” said Gillian-Alexandre Huart, CEO of ENGIE Energy Access.

“We have widened our approach from inclusiveness, to dedicating more efforts into productive usage. We are now at a stage where we provide a full range of complementary solutions: strong SHS offerings and a continuously expanding mini-grid business that is instrumental to reaching higher tier capacities and offering higher tier services. I am confident that we are well on track to impacting 20 million lives by 2025.”

Achieving access to larger funding will be key to EEA meeting its ambitious mission of impacting 20 million lives by 2025. EEA reached its first million customers in part due to the support of partners such as the European Union, and the Swedish and US governments.

Universal electrification is the seventh of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that the global community has committed to achieve by 2030. ENGIE is confident that universal access to energy is achievable in the foreseeable future, through smart investments in a combination of national grid extension, solar home systems and mini-grids.

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About ENGIE Energy Access: ENGIE Energy Access is one of the leading Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGo) and mini-grids solutions providers in Africa, with a mission to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable energy solutions and life-changing services with exceptional customer experience. The company is a result of the integration of Fenix International, ENGIE Mobisol and ENGIE PowerCorner. It develops innovative, off-grid solar solutions for homes, public services and businesses, enabling customers and distribution partners access to clean, affordable energy. The PAYGo solar home systems are financed through installments from $0.19 per day and the mini-grids foster economic development by enabling electrical productive use and triggering business opportunities for entrepreneurs in rural communities. With over 1,700 employees, operations in 9 countries across Africa (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), over 1.3 million customers and 6.5 million lives impacted so far, ENGIE Energy Access aims to remain the leading clean energy company, serving millions of customers across Africa by 2025. For more information, visit: https://engieenergyaccess.com/.

12 October 2021: Lendable Inc. ("Lendable" or the "Firm"), a leading emerging market fintech credit provider, is targeting a ground-breaking $100 million closed-ended fund focused on emerging and frontier market fintech investments.

The Lendable MSME Fintech Credit Fund (the "Fund") is designed to unlock access to financial services for over 150,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), providing investors with high impact exposure to important markets and the potential of high uncorrelated returns.

This Fund provides credit to African and Asian fintech companies, who in turn offer fair credit facilities to MSMEs. These same MSMEs are the engines of wealth creation, financial inclusion, and economic growth in these regions, yet historically have had limited access to fair credit and financial services.

Backed by leading impact and development financial institution (DFI) investors, the Fund today has soft closed a $49 million investment from DFC, EMIIF (DFAT), Calvert Impact Capital, Ceniarth, BIO, FMO and FSD Africa (FSDAi). Another $20 million is on track to close in the fourth quarter and the fund is expected to hard close above $100 million in 2022. This is a five-year blended finance closed-ended Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF), with FSDAi and EMIIF providing the first loss capital tranche.  

Combining West Coast technology with Emerging Market needs, Lendable's proprietary Risk Engine analyses live borrower data from its investee fintech CRMs, opening-up an unparalleled level of granularity across the entire loan book. It is this level of transparency, both on an individual loan and portfolio basis, that enhances loan underwriting and allows for more effective and efficient risk management. This technology has already proven its predictive power, by accurately forecasting the impact of adverse weather, election unrest, COVID-19 lockdowns, and other local events.

The Lendable MSME Fintech Credit Fund is Lendable's fourth fund and with the soft close takes the Firm's overall committed capital to over $200 million. Since inception (October 2016) to 31 August 2021, Lendable has delivered an annualised net return of 14.32% to investors.

"We have had an amazing response to this Fund and have brought on board an impressive slate of leading impact investors and DFIs who back our approach," commented Daniel Goldfarb, co-Founder of Lendable. "Through our fintech investments, we are providing essential working capital for MSMEs that enables off-grid customers to buy energy products and opens the door to innovative digital banking services to consumers. It is about making a high impact difference."

Chris Wéhbe, CEO of Lendable adds, "We are incredibly proud of our track record in delivering genuine impact and consistent high returns. With our additional fund raising we can grow our committed capital, which will allow us to expand our reach into new markets, where we have a targeted pipeline of investment opportunities."

Marnix Monsfort, Director Financial Institutions, FMO, added, "Emerging market fintech investment has a direct and highly important impact on regional development. Sadly, all too often, quality firms struggle to scale due to a lack of adequate, tailored capital. FMO is excited to partner with Lendable as its proposition directly addresses this issue by bringing new capital to the table combined with their strong record of delivering competitive risk-adjusted returns for investors."

Algene Sajery, Vice President of the Office of External Affairs and Head of Global Gender Equity Investments, DFC, concluded, "Our investment in the Fintech Credit Fund will help catalyze the next wave of commercial investment into emerging market fintech companies. Development finance institutions like DFC can play an outsized role in attracting different types of capital with different risk appetites to the sector. By supporting transformative fintech companies, DFC and our partners can achieve greater impact while expanding access to finance for underserved communities – particularly women – in emerging economies."

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About Lendable: Lendable is a leading debt finance provider to fintech companies across frontier and emerging markets that create access to new financial products and services for un- and under-banked populations. Lendable finances fintech companies that facilitate consumer and MSME credit, productive asset finance, payments, remittances, and digital marketplaces. From its offices in Nairobi, London, and Singapore, and using its proprietary technology and data, Lendable directly originates, structures, underwrites, and monitors all transactions. To date, Lendable has disbursed over $180m to fintechs in over nine countries.

13 October 2021: Following a successful pilot project, InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), has signed a Shareholders’ Agreement and a Loan Agreement with Bonergie Irrigation SAS (Bonergie Irrigation) to continue supporting the scale up of the project. Under the new agreements, InfraCo Africa will hold a large minority shareholding in Bonergie Irrigation, committing an additional US$2.4 million to substantially scale up farmers’ access to high quality irrigation systems in Senegal.

It has long been recognised that reliance upon rain-fed agriculture exposes Senegal’s farmers to the effects of climate change on temperature and rainfall patterns.i In 2019, InfraCo Africa joined with solar equipment specialist Bonergie Senegal to establish Bonergie Irrigation, a local Special Purpose Vehicle, to pilot the implementation of over 100 high quality Solar Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS).

InfraCo Africa’s CEO, Gilles Vaes, said of today’s announcement: “We are excited to continue working with our partners at Bonergie Irrigation to substantially scale up our offering to farmers in Senegal. Access to solar-powered irrigation systems will replace existing diesel pumps, providing farmers with a more sustainable solution to addressing the linked challenges of climate change and food security.”

The agreements signed today will see the commissioning, sale, installation and maintenance of at least 2,000 further pumps over the next three years. In response to feedback from the pilot, the project will also roll out over 500 drip irrigation systems (DIS) which are designed to optimise efficiency of irrigation whilst also protecting groundwater sources from over-abstraction. The systems come in a range of sizes to suit each farmer’s needs with hire purchase financing available to spread the cost, making the systems more affordable.

“Bonergie Irrigation SAS is very proud that InfraCo Africa has decided to develop a close partnership with us as a shareholder”, says Gabriele Schwarz, CEO of Bonergie Irrigation SAS. “Their tremendous experience will help us to supply a minimum of 2000 pumps and 500 drip irrigation systems to rural farmers in a sustainable way. The nexus of Water-Energy-Food is one of the main topics for the coming years and Bonergie Irrigation SAS and InfraCo Africa are in a perfect position to develop this market in Senegal.”

It is anticipated that Phase II of the Bonergie Irrigation project will be completed by the end of 2023 with InfraCo Africa continuing to support the project as a shareholder.

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About Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG): The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) is an innovative infrastructure project developer and investor which mobilises private investment in sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia. PIDG investments promote socio-economic development within a just transition to net zero emissions, combat poverty and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PIDG delivers its ambition in line with its values of opportunity, accountability, safety, integrity and impact. Since 2002, PIDG has supported 171 infrastructure projects to financial close which provided an estimated 217 million people with access to new or improved infrastructure. PIDG is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Germany and the IFC. For more information, visit: www.pidg.org.

About InfraCo Africa: InfraCo Africa is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). InfraCo Africa seeks to alleviate poverty by mobilising private investment into high-quality infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest countries. It addresses the risks and costs of early-stage project development: funding teams of experienced developers and providing risk capital to those projects which need the financial commitment and leverage that InfraCo Africa can bring. InfraCo Africa is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom (through FCDO), the Netherlands (through DGIS) and Switzerland (through SECO). For more information, visit: www.infracoafrica.com.

About Bonergie Senegal: Established in Senegal in 2010, Bonergie enables people in West Africa to access energy for productive use for small and medium sized companies. The focus is on Agriculture, for which Bonergie provides solutions like Solar Water pumps and efficient irrigation systems, cold chain solutions and Solar dryers for the transformation of products. Bonergie installs also classical solar electrifications which helps the SME’s to run their business more profitable. Bonergie stands for high quality of all our products and components as well as in a network of technicians who ensure the steady operation of all systems. For more information, visit: https://www.bonergie.com/en/.

13 October 2021: Solar Panda, a young Canadian company that provides solar home systems to off-grid homes in sub-Saharan Africa, has been ranked the 3rd fastest growing company in Canada in 2021 by Report on Business Magazine, a publication of Canada’s newspaper of record, the Globe and Mail.  Solar Panda earned its spot with a three-year revenue growth of 10,465%!

Solar Panda was founded by Andy Keith, a serial entrepreneur in the renewable energy sector.  Solar Panda started selling in Kenya in 2017 and in under 4 years has rocketed to be become a leader in the industry.  It provides solar home systems to over 160,000 homes, bringing light to 800,000 Kenyans. These systems transform lives by displacing toxic and dangerous kerosene lanterns; giving children clean light to study by; providing access to entertainment and information; and making virtually all daily tasks easier.

“We’re honoured to be recognized and included on this distinguished list,” says Andy Keith, CEO. “I am in awe of the growth our team has achieved, especially with the challenges Covid has thrown at us.  There are still nearly a billion people in the world without access to electricity, and so we are just getting started!”

In the past 4 years, Solar Panda has grown to a company with 250 employees (54% women), 750 sales agents and 30 stores across Kenya. Since the beginning, Solar Panda has been focused on sustainable growth and was profitable prior to the pandemic, a feat which has eluded most companies operating in this nascent sector. 

“The pandemic will have an outsized impact in developing countries with slow access to vaccines and fragile economies”, says Andy.  (Fewer than 2% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is vaccinated.)  “However, I’m confident these countries will recover, and Africa will get back on track to be the fastest growing region in the world.”

While Kenya weathers Covid, Solar Panda is doing everything it can to stay the course by making its products more affordable for financially-strapped families.  It also launched a not-for-profit educational initiative to help Kenyan children with their studies when schools shut down.

Solar Panda is currently raising its first round of external equity to support its ambitious growth plans as economies recover and help manage the challenges of the pandemic.  Solar Panda is seeking a mission-aligned investor who not only recognizes the large business opportunity but is passionate about ending the injustice in the world that over a billion people still lack access to electricity.

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About Solar Panda: Solar Panda, headquartered in Canada and Nairobi, manufactures and sells Solar Home Systems that include lights, mobile charging, and a television through its network of 30 shops across Kenya.  Home solar kits are financed to customers to make them affordable, allowing them to pay small daily amounts for access to reliable electricity.  Solar Panda’s dedicated team stands alone in the industry with its high percentage of women (54%) in roles at all levels within the organization.  Now in more than 160,000 homes, Solar Panda is bringing clean, affordable electricity to 800,000 Kenyans. For more information, visit: www.solarpanda.com.

18 October 2021: The United States Agency for International Development announced two awards totaling $3.5 million for the Bicycles for Growth Initiative. This program aims to improve sustainable access to affordable bicycles in sub-Saharan Africa.

With USAID support, J.E. Austin Associates and World Bicycle Relief will work together to increase mobility in rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa by developing and demonstrating means to rapidly increase bicycle uptake for individuals who cannot afford or do not have access to other transportation – thereby facilitating the opportunity for higher incomes, and better health and education outcomes.

Many communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa struggle to access health services, education, economic opportunities, and basic social services due to long distances and limited transportation options. For rural communities, these challenges are particularly acute. Walking is the main mode of transportation in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Bicycles can provide an affordable, accessible, reliable, and efficient alternative to walking, offering more carrying capacity and easier access to necessary destinations.

More than 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s rural residents must traverse long distances without access to roads or transportation to commute to work, transport goods to market, travel to school, or obtain medical care.

The awards will support research on the supply, demand, and supporting systems for access to bicycles in Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. Based on the results of the assessment phase, the teams will implement pilot projects in four to six localities across two of these countries with the goal of reducing barriers to increased supply and uptake of low-cost, durable, and adjustable bicycles. The Bicycle for Growth Initiative represents a simple, but effective approach to addressing a common development challenge.

18 October 2021: d.light, a leading innovator of solar, lighting and sustainable products, announced today that it had raised USD 15 million of equity financing from existing investors, led by Inspired Evolution. This latest round of funding, in addition to the USD $10 million raised recently from Proparco in May, brings the total to USD 25 million raised this year by the company, underscoring the confidence investors have in the industry and d.light despite the pandemic. This capital raise will bolster the company’s plans to continue growing its PayGo consumer finance business in key markets across Africa.

“We are grateful for the continued support of our investors during these uncertain times. Thanks to our focus on financial discipline and operational excellence, d.light minimised the pandemic’s impact to our business. We are now in a strong position to accelerate our plans to expand our Pay-Go operations and enter new product categories and markets in the near future,” said d.light co-founder and CEO Ned Tozun.

Inspired Evolution led the USD 15 million round, supported by Evolution II, Shell New Energies, FMO, Norfund, Swedfund, and KawiSafi Ventures. On the investment, Wayne Keast, Co-Managing Partner of Inspired Evolution said, “We are pleased to support the company with additional capital for growth and to secure the support from many of the existing shareholders during these difficult Covid-19 times.”

After reaching its founding goal of impacting 100 million lives by 2020, d.light has embarked on another ambitious journey to impact 1 billion lives by 2030 with transformative products. The company provides customers with a broad portfolio of sustainable solutions, ranging from portable solar lanterns to financed solar home systems and related aspirational products, such as smartphones and televisions. d.light’s award-winning products are sold through over 30,000 outlets.

• USD 1.25m loan from REPP also marks UK-government funded programme’s first investment in a majority women-led company.

21 October 2021: A ground-breaking solar mini-grid project is delivering far-reaching health and socio-economic benefits in rural Sierra Leone following a USD 1.25m loan from REPP, funded by the UK government.

The “Moyamba” project is being developed by Energicity (SL) Limited (“Energicity”) after the company won a concession to build and/or upgrade and operate 32 mini-grid sites from Sierra Leone’s Rural Renewable Electrification Project, which was conceived in the wake of the 2014 Ebola crisis to support the country’s struggling health care system.

A significant part of the Moyamba project targets increasing the system’s capacity and strengthening its resilience to climate change via direct connection to hospitals and clinics. As part of the agreement with the government, Energicity’s project company is required to provide a minimum daily amount of power to community health centres free of charge.

As well as supporting health care, all 32 mini-grids are suitable for productive uses of energy, such as milling and grinding, thus providing income-generating opportunities for local businesses and direct job opportunities for communities. Energicity, a subsidiary of majority women-led Energicity Corporation, is also developing “behind the meter” relationships with customers, providing value-added services such as leasing freezers and electric motors.

REPP’s loan will now enable the completion of the project and provide funding for the operation of all 32 sites which are situated in Sierra Leone’s Port Loko, Kambia, Karene and Moyamba districts. Once completed, the mini-grid portfolio will provide first-time access to electricity to nearly 80,000 people, directly supporting Sierra Leone’s national electrification target of 92% by 2030. The sites will also add a combined 1.3MW of renewable energy capacity and avoid over 2,800 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Nicole Poindexter, CEO and Founder of Energicity Corporation, said: “With the support of REPP’s USD 1.25 million loan, the project is not only providing a source of reliable power to the districts’ under-pressure health clinics, but once completed will have connected almost 80,000 local people and small businesses to electricity for the first time. These people include Kadiatu Maseray, who with affordable and reliable electricity has increased the profits of her cold drinks business by 300% and the Conakry Dee Junior School, which has seen a 25% increase in attendance and a 235% increase in students passing since being connected to its local mini-grid.

“We are grateful for the REPP team’s commitment to helping us achieve our vision of providing affordable, reliable, scalable electricity so that families and communities can thrive.”

Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director of REPP’s investment manager, Camco Clean Energy, said: ”The Ebola outbreak in 2014 had a devastating impact on Sierra Leone, and put an overwhelming demand on the country’s healthcare system. The ongoing success of the Moyamba project is a sign of a country on the mend and proof of how renewable energy initiatives present a viable investment decision for external investors.

“From the start, Moyamba has been designed to have the widest positive impact on people, not just through providing free power to hospitals and clinics, but by delivering a sufficiently high service quality so as to promote the productive use of electricity, as well as providing households with a clean, healthy and more affordable alternative to kerosene.”

By having 60% female representation in Energicity (SL) Limited’s senior management team, the Moyamba project meets the 2X Challenge’s criteria for gender lens investment. This means that of all REPP’s current investments, 53% now meet this widely regarded criteria for supporting gender equality.

 “In its role as REPP’s investment manager, Camco is committed to increasing the role of women in the sector,” said Sinclair. “Unfortunately, women-led businesses remain a rare entity in Sub-Saharan Africa’s renewable energy space, and so being able to support Moyamba as a majority women-managed project is a particular highlight.”

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About REPP: The Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) works to mobilise private sector development activity – and investment – in small to medium-sized projects (typically up to 25MW). It is supported with £148m funding from the UK’s International Climate Finance through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and to date, has agreed contracts with 30 renewable energy projects across 16 countries, employing six different technologies, from SHS and PV mini-grids to biomass and run-of-river hydro. For more information, visit: www.repp.energy.

About Camco Clean Energy: Camco Clean Energy is a specialist fund manager focused on renewable energy, climate finance and impact in emerging markets. We offer elegant and practical financing solutions to lead the clean energy transition, pairing the conscience of a development bank with the agility of a small private company. Camco is an Accredited Entity of the Green Climate Fund and is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The company has offices in Accra, Helsinki, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi and Toronto. For more information, visit: www.camco.energy.

About the UK’s International Climate Finance: UK International Climate Finance (ICF) is the UK’s primary international instrument to help deliver on our commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement. It is one of the vital tools we are deploying to tackle climate change internationally and help us secure successful outcomes at the COP26 negotiations.

The UK’s ICF helps developing countries mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, reduce deforestation and pursue clean economic growth. The ICF is focused on driving transformation in line with the scale of action required to tackle climate change. For more information, visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-climate-finance.

About Energicity Corporation: Energicity Corporation is a developer and operator of solar-powered mini-grid utilities in West Africa.  Energicity has won concessions in Sierra Leone (Power Leone) and Benin (Weziza Benin) that will serve over 120,000 people in the two countries. The company’s innovative deployment models enabling affordable, reliable, scalable electricity were hailed by TechCrunch in 2020 as Africa’s Utility of the Future.  Founded in 2015 by Nicole Poindexter and co-founded by solar engineer Joseph Philip, the company’s investors include Treehouse Investments and the flagship investment of  Ecosystem Integrity Fund’s Fund IV. For more information, visit: http://energicitycorp.com/home/.

26 October 2021: The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), together with the United Nations System in Madagascar (UNDP, UNIDO and UNCDF), Joint SDG Fund and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), organised the Madagascar Rural Electrification Forum (FERM), which took place virtually on 20-21 October 2021. The two-day event was also supported by the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons (MEH), Rural Electrification Development Agency (ADER), Electricity Regulation Office (ORE) and Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM). 

The Forum brought together almost 300 stakeholders from the DRE sector, including private and public sector representatives such as the Government of Madagascar, investors, project developers and technology providers. FERM showcased the potential of the decentralised renewable energy (DRE) market in Madagascar and connected key financial and technical players to do business. 

David Lecoque, CEO of ARE said: “We are honoured to organise the first ever Madagascar Rural Electrification Forum and bring together public and private sector actors to help drive rural electrification efforts in Madagascar. We believe that these fruitful discussions will help turbocharge the DRE market in Madagascar and contribute to the massive and rapid deployment of DRE across the country.” 

Sambatra Ramiandrasoa, Director General of Energy & Hydrocarbons of MEH stated that: “Together, we will work hard to bring electricity to every rural, remote and landlocked area of the country. Several projects should be implemented to achieve such ambitions. That is why we have organised this forum to discuss how to effectively achieve the set objectives in a B2B format." 

Issa Sanogo, Resident Coordinator of the UN System in Madagascar underlined that: “The UN System supports the Madagascar Government and other stakeholders in the promotion and development of a green economy to support sustainable and inclusive development. The UN System supports actions for a better electrification of rural areas while promoting renewable energies because these discussions allow not only the strengthening of mechanisms of adaptation and mitigation to climate change but also so we do not leave aside the populations in these areas." 

The discussions demonstrated that DRE technologies were fundamental in harnessing the vast renewable energy potential, delivering vast socio-economic benefits and increasing energy autonomy and diversification in Madagascar, thereby enabling energy access for all. In addition, FERM provided an important opportunity to shed light on how investors can contribute to furthering electrification rates in Madagascar.

Christoph Feldkötter, Country Director of GIZ Madagascar stated that: “This forum is truly an exceptional opportunity for Madagascar to present its renewable energy potential to investors and to contribute to the achievement of the objectives set out in the General State Program. It is also an opportunity to contribute to the mitigation of climate change. We are convinced that this dialogue will contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the population in rural areas!” 

FERM opened with an overview of the current state of the DRE market in Madagascar. This session outlined that it was important to acknowledge the economic role of DRE and it was vital to grasp this enormous potential, particularly in the most vulnerable areas of Madagascar.

The high-level discussions and debates attracted many key actors from the public and private sector including ARE Members ABC Contracting, Africa GreenTec, ADEME, ANKA Madagascar, Asantys Systems, atmosfair, BAE Batterien, Benoo, ENERSOL, ENGIE Energy Access, Faber, Gommyr Power, NRECA International, Phaesun, Rutten NES, Solar23, Studer Innotec, Tanatech, Upya, Voltalia and Zimpertec.

The second day brought together DRE technology providers and private and public sector investors to highlight the types of financial instruments available to stimulate rural electrification efforts in Madagascar. Practitioners on the ground also had the chance to present their Malagasy projects and technical solutions for mini-grids and stand-alone renewable energy systems.

Lastly, ARE facilitated approximately 150 virtual matchmaking sessions, enabling investors, technology providers, project developers, as well as other innovators in the sector to connect.

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The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) is an international business association with the aim to promote a sustainable decentralised renewable energy industry for the 21st century, activating markets for affordable energy services, and creating local jobs and inclusive economies. ARE enables improved energy access through business development support for more than 185 Members along the whole value chain for off-grid technologies.

For 50 years, the UNDP has been the development agency of the United Nations System which has contributed to the promotion of good governance, the eradication of poverty and the significant reduction of all forms of inequality and exclusion in the world. UNDP is present in nearly 170 countries and territories. In Madagascar, UNDP supports Malagasy institutions and communities in promoting good governance, while supporting the transition to sustainable development in which economic growth benefits everyone and where irreversible damage to the environment is avoided. To do this, UNDP provides efficient and equitable services to citizens, especially poor and marginalized groups, and supports democratic and governance institutions to be more inclusive, transparent and efficient.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working in Madagascar on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) since 1982. It also undertakes commissions for the European Union. The GIZ country office has been based in Antananarivo for over 35 years. GIZ is assisting the Malagasy Government and the private sector in improving general conditions for public and private investment in order to promote expansion of the country’s energy supply. A new energy policy and an energy act have been adopted, providing legal certainty for private companies investing in renewable energy.

The Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund is an innovative instrument to incentivise the transformative policy shifts and stimulate the strategic investments required to get the world back on track to meet the SDGs. The UN Secretary-General sees the Joint SDG Fund as a key part of the reform of the UN’s development work by providing the “muscle” for a new generation of Resident Coordinators (RCs) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs) to really accelerate SDG implementation.

The agencies of the United Nations System have been operational in Madagascar and work in collaboration with the Government, the private sector and civil society in the social, economic and humanitarian fields. The main activities of the United Nations System in Madagascar revolve around three axes: the promotion of human rights, peace and security and development. Actions and advocacy in favor of theSDGs are a priority. The agencies work in close collaboration with the State to achieve the SDGs and to implement the country's National Development Plan.

UNIDO is the specialised agency of the United Nations that promotes industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. The mission of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as described in the Lima Declaration adopted at the fifteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2013, as well as the Abu Dhabi Declaration adopted at the eighteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in 2019, is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in Member States.

The UNCDF makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs). UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

29 October 2021: New analysis reveals $1.2 trillion investment opportunity over the next 10 years can be realised by building productive market demand for off-grid renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa needs energy for development and the socio-economic transformation of hundreds of millions of people. Increasing the productive use of energy (PUE) is an important way to unlock jobs, create incomes and deliver social impacts in local communities. Two reports released today by the Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO) Programme outline the business case for investment into productive equipment and appliances and the scale of the investment opportunity that exists.     

PREO is funded by the IKEA Foundation and UK aid, via the Transforming Energy Access platform and delivered by the Carbon Trust and Energy 4 Impact. The programme enables African businesses to harness clean energy to improve incomes, build climate resilience and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. To date it has funded 23 private sector and non-profit enterprises that demonstrate the business and impact case of PUE in multiple sectors. PUE refers to the type of energy demand that generates revenue, increases productivity, enhances diversity, and creates economic value.

The PUE market opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa is significant. The Capital Required to Maximise the Productive Use of Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa report details new analysis that estimates $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years (or $120 billion per year) is required to ensure the necessary level of productive and revenue generating demand is created to improve the economics of off-grid renewable energy. This is significantly larger than the estimated $40 billion required annually to achieve global universal energy access on the same timeline, the report says.      

The business case for investment is backed by results as PREO releases the first impacts from the projects being supported via the programme. The Power of the Productive Use of Energy – an Impact Investment Frontier; details outcomes from six pilot projects (in e-mobility and transport, cooling for food and healthcare).

PREO funding has enabled the businesses it supports in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate business model viability while gathering critical business information and securing commercial scale-up capital. Each of the projects uses PUE appliances or equipment to create business opportunities and grow local economies, while providing essential services in agriculture, e-mobility transport, and healthcare.

In e-mobility, PREO has demonstrated viable payback for investment over a little more than two years through a daily leasing model of e-motorbikes. Moreover, the projects have created jobs, created opportunities for women, boosted local production capacity, and created supply chain opportunities. Emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels in conventional internal combustion engine motorbikes have also been avoided while running and service costs have come down by 68% and 33% respectively.

Cooling for food companies supported through PREO have shown that off-grid cold storage directly aggregates smallholder farmers and achieves breakeven at a 72% utilisation rate. The cooling units reduce agricultural waste by a third, and client farmers typically pocket 20% more for their produce when using the service. Over six months, client farmers sold 2 550kg more produce, resulting in $11 460 additional income.

In primary healthcare, companies supported by PREO show that by adopting solar, facility downtime can be minimised by as much as 40%, and revenues improved by up to 20% through serving more patients and introducing electricity-powered medical devices and other healthcare services. Investment will attract capital for more off-grid implementation and is a model that may be applied elsewhere.

“Stimulating greater demand for renewable energy and boosting investment in productive use equipment and applications is a critical way to support business opportunities, grow local economies and create jobs in sub-Saharan Africa,” Jon Lane, Associate Director at the Carbon Trust says. “However, traditional forms of investment in energy access often fall short of bridging the gap between the high cost of supplying renewable energy to off-grid communities and building consistent and reliable demand from businesses or households. We hope the release of these reports not only highlights the scale of the investment opportunity available, but also confirms the economics and social benefits that can be delivered.”

PREO is funded by the IKEA Foundation and UK aid via the Transforming Energy Access platform, and delivered by the Carbon Trust and Energy 4 Impact.

Please click on these links to watch short videos about three PREO pilot projects: Opibus, SokoFresh and Access Afya.

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About PREO: The Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO) Programme stimulates renewable energy demand in Africa by providing high-risk grant capital, technical assistance and knowledge dissemination services to a portfolio of companies in a range of sectors. In this way it creates sustainable jobs and reduces poverty through economic growth and empowering women. It is supported by the IKEA Foundation and UK aid, and delivered by the Carbon Trust and Energy 4 Impact. For more information, visit: www.PREO.org/.

2 November 2021: Today, Husk Power Systems (huskpowersystems.com), the rural clean energy services leader in Africa and Asia, launched its first six solar hybrid minigrids in Nigeria, located in Nasarawa State. It is the first time that a company has rolled out multiple mini-grids at one time under the Nigerian Electrification Project (NEP), an initiative funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank and implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

Husk Power established its presence in Nigeria in early 2020, and its Abuja-based team has grown to more than 40 staff, with more than 50 part-time hires in the communities that Husk serves. With strong local leadership, Husk forecasts a fleet of more than 100 minigrids in Nigeria within the next 24 months, growing to 500 minigrids by 2026. It also plans to expand to several other Nigeria states before the end of 2023.

In Nasarawa, the newly launched minigrids will provide clean, reliable and affordable electricity to about 5,000 households and 500 businesses in Doma and Lafia Local Government Areas (LGAs). The six communities accessing electricity for the first time are Rukubi, Idadu and Igbabo in Doma LGA, and Kiguna, Akura, and Gidan Buba in Lafia LGA.

“Nigeria’s leadership in rural electrification and making minigrids a centerpiece of national energy strategy is a global best practice,” said Manoj Sinha, Husk co-founder and CEO. “Husk Power is proud to be contributing to the government’s vision of public-private partnership to provide clean, quality, reliable electricity that powers economic opportunity for small businesses and households across the country.”

In September, Husk received financial support from Nigeria’s REA to develop seven hybrid solar minigrids in Nasarawa, as part of the NEP’s performance-based grant program. The seventh site will come online in 2022 along with a larger pipeline of projects. Besides providing electricity to the local Doma and Lafia households and businesses, the minigrids will also support local agricultural activities such as milling, cold chain and irrigation.

Quote from His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State: 

“The completion of six minigrids by Husk Power Systems in Nasarawa State is an important step in scaling rural electrification and achieving energy access for all Nigerians. It is with great pride that Nasarawa State has collaborated with Husk Power, the world’s leading rural clean energy services company, and the Federal Government through the Rural Electrification Agency to implement these impressive projects, which will ensure clean, safe and reliable electricity for the communities in Rukubi, Idadu, Igbabo, Kiguna, Akura and Gidan Buba.”

Quote from Ashish Khanna, Acting Regional Director for Infrastructure, Africa West and Africa East; Practice Manager, West and Central Africa Energy: 

“The World Bank is a proud partner of the Government’s Nigeria Electrification Program (NEP). It is 2 years ago that the first solar minigrid was commissioned under NEP at Rokota village, since then significant progress has been made with 359 private sector led solar minigrid projects under development with the potential to provide electricity to 1.1 million people. Husk Power is now showing the way in scaling, with the first ever deployment of 6 sites simultaneously under the program, contributing to their ambition to roll-out 500 systems by 2026. We look forward to jointly continue to move the needle in providing electricity to the 80 million people who don’t have access to this today. ”

Besides its core minigrid business, Husk’s local entity Husk Power Systems Nigeria Limited, also installs turnkey rooftop solar for off-grid and weak-grid commercial and industrial (C&I) customers as well as providing energy efficient appliances and equipment for both households and businesses.

Husk is the international leader in community solar minigrids with over 130 sites operating in India, Nigeria and Tanzania. It ended 2020 with more than 5,000 small business customers.

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About Husk Power Systems: Founded in 2008, Husk Power Systems is the leading rural clean energy services company. Its smart and sustainable solutions accelerate access to clean, modern and affordable electricity in Africa and Asia and catalyze socio-economic development. Husk’s customer-centric culture also matches the growing needs of households, businesses, and public institutions, while its grid-integratable solution supports national electrification plans. For more information, visit: huskpowersystems.com.

• Delivered by leading advisory firms, the new service will help to bridge the access-to-finance gap for local, earlier stage companies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

4 November 2021: On the COP26 Energy Day, the European programme GET.invest – supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria – is officially launching the pilot phase of the GET.invest Finance Readiness Support, a new offering to help locally-owned and managed energy access companies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, access finance.

Across market segments, these companies tend to face significant barriers in tapping into funding opportunities, not least due to their track record, size and financing requirements. This is mirrored in global market trends. Investments in the off-grid solar sector have been highly concentrated, with the top 10 recipients of financing receiving 80 percent of the total value of investment in 2020 (GOGLA Off-Grid Solar Investment Trends 2020). This access-to-finance gap is a major roadblock for universal energy access, as 84% of people without access to energy live in rural areas and could benefit from companies with deep distribution roots and knowledge of local customer preferences. Furthermore, small and medium sized companies (SMEs) in emerging markets are widely considered key engines of growth, job creation and economic development.

Building on broad stakeholder consultations as well as the experience of supporting over 200 companies and projects in the sustainable energy sector, GET.invest launches the Finance Readiness Support to complement the advisory portfolio of the GET.invest Finance Catalyst. As such, the new service will target local, earlier stage micro-, small- and medium-sized energy companies and provide hands-on, in-depth business development advisory and coaching along the fundraising journey.

In the words of Michael Franz, Team Leader of GET.invest: “With this new service, GET.invest extends its support of mobilising renewable energy investments to an underserved clientele, who in turn often serves those in greatest need of access to energy. The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support has been built specifically for locally owned and managed businesses aiming for growth but in need of customised, professional advisory to get there. Our new service will support them in getting ready for investment and accessing finance, usually for the first time. Our vision with this is to make a real difference towards reaching SDG7 with diverse and vibrant energy markets.”

The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support will be implemented by eight advisory firms: Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors, Energy 4 Impact, GFA Consulting Group, GreenMax Capital Advisors, Inensus, KPMG, Open Capital and Persistent. In its initial pilot phase, the service will draw on the firms’ networks to support innovative, impactful and scalable companies and projects, based on eligibility criteria developed in collaboration with industry associations.

GET.invest will shape the Finance Readiness Support throughout the pilot phase by working closely with several core partners, including the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), GOGLA, the Global Distributors Collective (GDC), the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) and ENERGIA (Hosted by HIVOS). 

Additionally, GET.invest is collaborating with national renewable energy associations including the

Associação Moçambicana de Energias Renováveis (AMER), Energy Private Developers (EPD), the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) and the Uganda National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Alliance (UNREEEA). More partners are expected to be mobilised. Via this coalition, lessons learned and knowledge generated will also be shared with the energy access community at large.

“We are glad to see this facility materialise, especially in the aftermath of Covid-19 and its impact on earlier-stage locally-owned enterprises. This service will be crucial to reach our goal of ‘energy access for all’. GET.invest is uniquely positioned to drive this forward given its wide network and partnerships with the industry associations at global and national levels, which can make this approach more holistic and inclusive,” said Sarah Bieber, Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships at Acumen on the occasion of the launch.

Ruchi Soni, Programme Manager, Results-Based Financing at SEforALL, added: “A just and equitable energy transition can only happen with increased investment in local energy access enterprises, including those serving the last mile. The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support will be key in mobilising much needed capital for these companies.”

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About GET.invest: GET.invest is a European programme which supports investments in decentralised renewable energy. The programme targets private sector business and project developers, financiers and regulators to build sustainable energy markets in developing countries. Services include market information, a funding database, matchmaking events and access-to-finance advisory. The programme is supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria, and works closely with initiatives and business associations in the energy sector. The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support is a service of GET.invest. For more information, visit: https://www.get-invest.eu/.

9 November 2021: At COP26, World Resources Institute (WRI), in partnership with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Bloomberg Philanthropies, launched a Solar Investment Action Agenda, which identifies potential high-impact opportunities to rapidly accelerate solar investment and reach ISA’s goal of mobilizing US$1 trillion by 2030.

To meet both climate goals and growing energy needs over the coming decades, the world must rapidly scale investment in solar energy. Scaling solar deployment – by providing access to clean electricity, creating jobs, improving human health, and advancing gender equality – can help countries tackle growing demand for energy and achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

The Action Agenda summarizes policy and risk management actions that can unlock investment by industry, governments and investors—and initiates an examination of the institutional arrangements needed to accelerate solar deployment. It will guide the development of a Solar Investment Roadmap to be released in 2022.

“The time for solar energy is now. Solar makes economic sense for energy access, energy security and climate mitigation,” said Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, World Resources Institute. “We must ensure that the commitments made by financial institutions, governments and foundations are used to scale up solar and get energy to the people who need it most. The Action Agenda and Roadmap can help us get there. WRI is pleased to work alongside the International Solar Alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies to accelerate this movement.”

Enormous growth and investment in solar generation capacity will be required to meet global climate and development goals. Solar investment today lags far behind global needs: To get the world where it needs to be, average annual solar investment needs to double through 2050. And today, developing and emerging economies — home to two-thirds of the world’s population — receive only 20% of global renewable energy investment.

“Solar can be capitalized to help lift people out of energy poverty, and drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. Trillions of dollars in investment need to be mobilized and the right policy frameworks need to be put in place,” said Dr. Ajay Mathur, Global Director, International Solar Alliance (ISA.) “The ISA is working towards mobilizing USD 1 trillion of investment for a massive deployment of solar energy technologies and for expanding solar markets. Public and private finance must be equal contributors in mitigating the climate change challenge. ISA’s partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Resources Institute to develop the Solar Investment Action Agenda and Solar Investment Roadmap will drive the infrastructure and ecosystem requirements for a zero carbon emission future.”

Scaling solar investment is essential to build just, resilient and climate-safe economies. In addition to helping achieve global climate goals, clean electricity from solar can meet growing demand across a range of end uses, including buildings, transport and agriculture, and next generation solar technologies are critical for enabling the industrial sector to decarbonize. Solar power also diversifies countries’ energy supply, thereby increasing energy security and improving system resilience in the face of challenges like extreme weather. And, critically, it makes economic sense.

"Speeding up investment in solar power is critical to winning the battle against climate change,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “It will also help us deliver energy to the hundreds of millions of people who still lack it without increasing carbon emissions and deadly air pollution. We're glad to be working with the International Solar Alliance and WRI on this roadmap to ramp up solar investment and unlock its benefits. The more we work together, the faster we can turn plans into action."

“The scale of investment needed to fulfill solar’s potential to achieve these benefits is possible to achieve through increased collaboration among public and private sector actors. “A better climate future is within reach provided countries have access to the scale and type of finance needed,” said Mafalda Duarte, CEO of the Climate Investment Funds, among the world's largest multilateral climate funds. “Concessional climate funding is key to overcoming investment barriers and to crowd in other sources of finance. We at the Climate Investment Funds have demonstrated it across sectors and geographies and are launching new initiatives at COP26 to raise the level of ambition.”

Just as critically, there is an urgent need to ensure that committed investments and financing are programmed in time to meet climate goals and in a way that results in an equitable distribution of solar energy to support energy access and security.

“At COP26, it is clearer than ever the world needs to change energy for good to expand access to renewable electricity for those without, create good jobs for people and avert greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, which we launched last week with $10 billion in committed capital and nearly two dozen public and private sector partners from around the world aims to do just that; and we applaud the International Solar Alliance and WRI‘s new Solar Investment Action Agenda and Roadmap.”

The Action Agenda—and the more detailed Solar Investment Roadmap that will follow in 2022—will help governments and investors expand solar energy for households, electrical utilities and industry. The Roadmap will analyze high-impact opportunities to equitably scale solar investment and deployment; define strategic interventions by policymakers and investors to increase the level and pace of investment; strengthen coalitions of governments, private sector leaders and international financial institutions to optimize opportunities for scaling solar; and help mobilize $1 trillion of solar investment by 2030.

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About World Resources Institute: World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization that spans more than 60 countries, with international offices in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, regional offices in Ethiopia (for Africa) and the Netherlands (for Europe), and program offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Our more than 1,400 experts and staff turn big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. For more information, visit: https://www.wri.org/.

About Bloomberg Philanthropies: Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 810 cities and 170 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2020, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.6 billion. For more information, visit: bloomberg.org. 

About International Solar Alliance (ISA): The ISA is a growing international organisation of 80 member countries. ISA supports governments around the world to improve energy access and security by promoting solar energy as a sustainable, affordable and resilient way to transition to a carbon-neutral future. ISA’s vision is to facilitate energy access in every corner of the world by delivering cleaner electricity to all by 2030. ISA’s mission is to unlock USD 1 trillion of investment by 2030 by reducing the cost of the technology and its financing, and increasing the skills of people working in the industry. The ISA will help deliver global relevance, local benefit to all countries through collaborations, with its key interventions focusing on readiness & enabling activities, risk mitigation & innovative financing instruments, which will then facilitate the promotion and deployment of technologies in respective target markets.

About the Climate Investment Funds: The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) was established in 2008 to mobilize resources and trigger investments for low-carbon, climate-resilient development in select low and middle-income countries. 14 contributor countries have pledged up to $10.5 billion to the Funds. To date, committed CIF capital has generated an additional $61 billion in co-financing for mitigation and adaptation interventions at scale in 72 recipient countries. CIF is one of the largest active climate finance mechanisms in the world. For more information, visit: www.climateinvestmentfunds.org.

About Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet: The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) launched on November 2, 2021 at COP26 with USD10 billion of committed capital to accelerate investment in green energy transitions and renewable energy solutions in developing and emerging economies.  This historic partnership leverages catalytic grant funding to unlock investment capital with the aim of mobilizing USD100 billion in public and private capital in order to reach one billion people with reliable, renewable power, avoid and avert four billion tons of carbon emissions, and create, enable, or support more than 150 million jobs and drive economic growth over the next decade.  The Alliance serves as a platform for collaborative action and provides grant funding, technical assistance, and a range of financing options.  For more information, visit: www.globalenergyalliance.org.

• Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) is partnering with Daystar Power to roll out solar systems as a primary day-time energy source for all its Nigerian factories over the next year. These installations will bring SBC’s total installed solar power capacity to 12MW, making it Nigeria’s largest industrial player using solar energy to power its operations.

10 November 2021: Daystar Power, the leading provider of solar power solutions to West Africa’s industrial manufacturers, announced that it has reached an agreement with SBC to install 10.5MW solar power systems for five of its factories across Nigeria. This will bring SBC’s total installed solar power capacity to 12MW, making it Nigeria’s largest industrial manufacturer to power its operations with solar energy.

In 2021, SBC partnered with Daystar Power (“Daystar”) to design, operate and manage nearly 1.5MW solar power systems at two of its bottling plants. Daystar installed 450kW and 990kW solar systems at SBC’s Kaduna and Kano factories. The rooftop installations consisted respectively of 842 535Wp panels and 1,543 535Wp and 532 310Wp panels. With the two solar power systems, SBC will offset a combined 24,224 MT in CO2 emissions over the installations’ twenty-year lifetime and save up to 40% on its power costs.

Following these two installations, SBC has committed to partnering with Daystar on additional solar power systems at its five factories in Abuja, Lagos (Ikeja), Ibadan, and Ilorin over the next six months. This will bring Seven-Up’s total installed solar power capacity to 12MW across 7 factories. The solar power systems at the factories could provide over 50% of its total daytime power consumption depending on the installation size and amount of sunshine. Current Daystar clients in Lagos have generated up to 86% of total daytime energy needs from solar power.

Both companies are in discussion to roll out solar energy as the primary daytime power source at SBC’s nine sites in Nigeria, making it Nigeria’s largest industrial manufacturer to use solar energy in its operations.

“We’re delighted to deepen our partnership with Daystar Power to install solar power systems for our Nigerian operations. Solar energy is a win-win for us - we can save significantly on our power costs and reduce our carbon emissions,” said Ziad Maalouf, Managing Director of SBC.

“Seven-Up has shown extraordinary leadership in adopting solar energy. They are proof that Nigerian industrial manufacturers can save costs on energy and meet their sustainability requirements,” said Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO and Co-founder of Daystar Power.

“We’re excited about this partnership between Daystar Power co-founders, Jasper Graf von Hardenberg and Christian Wessels who are Endeavor Entrepreneurs, and Faysal El-Khalil, Chairman of Seven-Up Bottling Company, who is a member of the Endeavor Nigeria board. Daystar Power has built a fantastic solution and we were thrilled we have a board member whose company would benefit from using solar energy to power its operations. This partnership clearly illustrates the magic of the Endeavor network and the relevance of fostering lasting relationships,” Tosin Faniro-Dada, Managing Director and CEO, Endeavor Nigeria.

16 November 2021: Kiri Energy has won the Kenyan stage of the EDF Pulse Africa Tour, part of the more global EDF Pulse Africa innovation competition. Twelve candidates will take part in the grand finale, held on December 2 in Paris. Embodying EDF's commitment to Africa, the EDF Pulse Africa competition supports its most promising innovative start-ups to meet Africa's current energy challenges and contribute to its economic development.

The EDF Pulse Africa Tour, launched in 2019, is conducted in partnership with African incubators and other EDF institutional partners to meet innovative start-ups on the ground. During the Kenyan finale, two candidates stood out among the nine finalist start-ups, demonstrating the diversity of the Kenyan entrepreneurial and start-up ecosystem.

The entrepreneurs presented and defended their projects in front of a jury of experts in the field of entrepreneurship, renewable energy, and energy transition, composed of Luc Koechlin, EDF VP for Southern and Eastern Africa; Christ Anderson Ahoua Boua, EDF Pulse Africa Project Manager; Dennis Keya, EDF Kenya Country Manager; Vladimir Dugin, Investor at Energy Acess Venture; Lillian Marenya, Head of Catalytic Support at GrowthAfrica; Mikayla Czajkowski, Chief Of Staff at Sunculture; Jerome Baconin, Head of the Economic Service at the French Embassy in Kenya; Jeff Vanden Berghe, Managing Director of BBOXX Kenya; as well as Emmastella Gakuo, COO and Co-founder of Savanna Circuit.

At the end of this stage, the jury finally awarded two prizes (a first prize and a "jury's coup de coeur") to two Kenyan entrepreneurs:

• The first prize was awarded to the start-up Kiri Energy and its integrated distribution offer of electric scooters;
• The jury's coup de coeur is the project Baridi, which creates and commercializes systems of conservation of meat by the cold fed by solar panels, in a “Pay-as-you-store” fashion.

During the final, on December 2, 2021, in Paris, four winners will be able to win up to €15,000 and join the EDF Pulse Africa Factory, an acceleration program bringing together players committed to accompanying and supporting the growth of African “nuggets” in the field of energy access. 

This fourth edition is redoubling its ambition after a growing success over the last five years, with 79 profiles selected in 2017 against 536 in 2019, spread over more than half of the 54 African countries. It will award three prizes as well as a "jury's coup de coeur" to African start-ups and SMEs proposing innovative solutions in the following areas:

• Off-grid power generation - any innovative solution for the generation or storage of electricity in off-grid areas;
• Electricity services and uses - any service that extends electrification and any innovative product that is electricity efficient or reusable by users of electricity services;
• Access to water - any innovative solution to improve access to water through electricity.

"EDF Pulse Africa is at the core of EDF dedication to the renewal of energy offering in Africa, pushing and supporting innovation to foster the emergence of locally produced solutions," says Luc Koechlin, EDF VP for Southern and Eastern Africa.

This initiative is a continuation of the EDF Pulse Awards. These awards were launched in 2012 and fostered 1,500 innovative projects in France, the UK, and Italy. They are part of EDF's strategy to identify potential partners, develop its ecosystem, and give visibility to young innovative African structures to gain agility and respond more appropriately to market needs.

As a reminder, EDF has been present for 50 years in more than 14 African countries, with more than 500,000 households electrified according to a "low-carbon" model that favors sustainable and accessible energy. This is evidenced, for example, by its acquiring of shares in two Kenyan companies, Aconet Energy Kenya, which specialized in solar energy destined to companies, and Bboxx Kenya specialized in the development of autonomous solar kits. EDF aims to expand its off-grid offering to the residential market and connect more than two million Kenyans to electricity by 2025.

16 November 2021: The growth of the off-grid solar sector into a USD 1.75 billion industry, delivering energy services to 420 million global users, speaks to the sectors’ immense value.  CLASP, which leads the VeraSol quality assurance initiative, commissioned a study to evaluate consumers’ experiences with off-grid solar products in Kenya, a global off-grid market leader. Overall, the consumers surveyed confirmed that off-grid solar products are indeed delivering as expected, with about 70% expressing satisfaction with solar products’ durability, price and aftersales services offered​.

“It seems that years of quality assurance and consumer awareness support have had their intended impact and led to Kenya’s consumers being more discerning when purchasing solar products, which could be a significant factor in driving the high levels of user satisfaction,” says Dana Rysankova, Global Lead for Energy Access at the World Bank.

This study was the first of its kind and sought to complement existing data gathered through laboratory testing by focusing on how consumers interact with quality-verified and non-quality verified products. “This type of consumer survey is important and will continue to be critical for the sector to understand the effectiveness of adopting quality standards by interrogating the type of products that ultimately reach the consumer and the user experience (which supports the need for quality verification of products),” says Pauline Githugu, Team Leader for the UK aid-sponsored Africa Clean Energy Technical Assistance Facility.

In addition to being a key off-grid market, Kenya is also an early adopter of the IEC quality standards for solar products, making it a suitable example of the value of leveraging government support in implementing national quality assurance measures. EED Advisory conducted the consumer study by visiting and interviewing a nationally representative sample of 3915 households in early 2021 about their experiences with solar lanterns, lighting kits, home systems, and appliances. The study found that 28% of Kenyan households have access to at least one standalone off-grid solar product, with 21% using it as the primary source of lighting. Rural households were more than twice as likely to have off-grid solar products as were urban households (37% vs 16%), and seven counties (Homa Bay, Kilifi, Kitui, Machakos, Migori, Narok and Siaya) stood out as having a higher prevalence of off-grid solar products compared to the rest of the country.

The study results highlight a clear link between quality assurance and consumer satisfaction in many but not all aspects. For example, respondents indicated similar satisfaction rates with product durability for quality-verified (77%) versus non-quality verified (72%) solar lighting systems. However, for product breakdowns, a significantly higher proportion of non-quality verified solar lanterns (19%) and solar home systems (31.3%) were reported to have broken down compared to quality-verified ones (9.2% and 8.9%, respectively). For repair cost, there was a stark difference, with non-quality verified lanterns over three times more expensive to repair than quality-verified lanterns in Kenya.

The study proposes building firm-level verification methods and standards, strengthening partnerships between affiliate brands and last-mile distributors, and leveraging brand integrity to predict products’ quality and service to enhance quality assurance. Read the full ‘Quality in the Off-Grid Solar Market: An Assessment of the Consumer Experience in Kenya’ report for more information.

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About VeraSol: An evolution of Lighting Global Quality Assurance, VeraSol supports high-performing, durable off-grid products that expand access to modern energy services. VeraSol builds upon the strong foundation for quality assurance laid by the World Bank Group and expands its services to encompass off-grid appliances, productive use equipment, and component-based solar home systems. VeraSol is managed by CLASP in collaboration with the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University. Foundational support is provided by the World Bank Group’s Lighting Global program, UK aid, IKEA Foundation and others. For more information, visit: verasol.org.

18 November 2021: Kalahari GeoEnergy Ltd, the Zambian geothermal exploration and energy development company whose objective is to be a regional producer of sustainable baseload power, is pleased to announce that the Malawi Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining has granted the Company’s Malawi registered subsidiary a Reconnaissance Licence for the Chiweta Geothermal target in the northern region of Malawi.

The Chiweta target is 370 Km north of Lilongwe in Rumphi District, proximate to the western shoreline of Lake Malawi. It is within the northern portion of the Malawi Rift, a branch of the East African Rift System, which is widely considered to be very prospective for geothermal.  

A prefeasibility study conducted by ELC-Electroconsult of Italy in 2017 under a credit from the International Development Association of the World Bank to support the implementation of the  Malawi Energy Sector Support Project established that the granitic Basement Complex is overlain by Karoo (Permian) era sediments and a thin level of Quaternary deposits, which would create the  conditions for a caprock for a geothermal system. The geoscientific investigations conducted during  the study included geological, geochemical, gravimetric and geoelectrical surveys, the data from  which were used to create a conceptual model of the field. A volumetric estimate of the electric  potential of the Chiweta system indicates a likely value of 13.5 MW electrical and a highly probable value of 10.5 MW electrical. No drilling was undertaken. 

The Company will now verify earlier exploration results and reassess the model, which is likely to define targets for an exploratory drilling programme, aimed at proving the existence of a geothermal  system and defining its thermodynamic, hydraulic, and chemical features. Concurrently, the Company  will also sample for gases and instigate feasibility studies in selected direct applications. The initial objective is to assess the viability of commercial power generation with an associated hub for direct  applications and if viable undertake development and commercial operation. 

Kalahari Director, Dr Moses Banda, who has led the negotiations with the Malawi Authorities  commented: We thank the Malawi Ministry of Mining for the opportunity to assess the Chiweta  geothermal target. We believe our experience with our Bweengwa River target, which is in a similar  geologic setting, and our experience of operating in the region gives us the ability to conduct and  effectively manage the exploration work required to be able to develop Chiweta.  

Even at a modest scale, sustainable baseload power generation, would have an impact on power  availably and reliability in the Northern Region, which largely relies on hydro power from the Shire River in Southern Region and diesel generation. This is particularly pertinent given increased  uranium exploration and mining around Livingstonia, some 12 km to northwest of Chiweta. Direct applications of thermal energy are likely to lead to greater food security, social uplift, and climate adaption. 

The inclusion of Chiweta is a further step in the Company’s objective of being a regional energy producer. 

Geothermal Energy  

Geothermal energy is the heat produced by sub-surface materials of the earth. It is contained in the  rocks and fluids beneath the earth’s surface, heated by hot molten rock, magma, deeper in the earth’s crust and mantle. To produce electrical power from geothermal energy, wells are drilled to access underground reservoirs and the pressurised steam and hot water contained there, this can then be used  to drive turbines connected to electricity generators. At the identified temperatures in Malawi,  Kalahari is likely to use binary technology to produce power, wherein the geothermal fluid heats a secondary liquid with a lower boiling point and is then pumped back into the reservoir feed zone,  ensuring a closed system. The secondary liquid flashes to vapour to drive the turbine and produce  electricity. The hotter and more pressurised the geothermal fluid, the greater the electricity generated. 

Geothermal power is sustainable, operates at a high capacity and is environmentally benign. In addition to this, the direct application of heat for agro-industrial processes may have a significant impact in strengthening food security at a time of uncertainty as to the ongoing effects of climate change.

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About Kalahari GeoEnergy Ltd: Formed in 2010, Kalahari GeoEnergy is a privately owned, Zambian-registered exploration company whose objective is to be an Independent Renewable Energy Power Producer. The management and  their consultants have wide-ranging experience in exploration, development and energy utilisation.  

The Company is currently undertaking a Feasibility Study at is Bweengwa River geothermal project in southern Zambia on the Kafue Rift. It is anticipated that a pilot power and direct application units will  be developed in 2022 with commercial development once regulatory permits and funding are in place. 

18 November 2021: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Business Council of Renewable Energies of Senegal (COPERES) and the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE). The MoU sets out the shared goals of the two organisations to address the existing obstacles which hinder the optimal use of the various renewable energies for electrification and the potential for energy efficiency in Senegal. Both organisations agreed to promote social and economic development by increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy mix in West Africa and particularly Senegal.

The associations will work together on a number of activities, including joint advocacy for renewable energy policies in Senegal to create a conducive market environment for decentralised renewable energy (DRE) actors, accompanying and contributing to the government’s efforts to achieve renewable energy targets as well as targeted business development and market intelligence support for DRE companies.

In this regard, the associations aim to develop the capacity of renewable energy stakeholders in Senegal to create local jobs and secure more financing for renewable energy projects and businesses. This will, for example, be achieved by spearheading “DRE Investment Academies” or similar trainings for Senegalese and international DRE developers and other stakeholders, with the aim to attract additional fundraising and technical support.

Finally, the MoU states that the partners will offer business development services for renewable energy actors working in Senegal, to address electrification, energy security and climate change challenges, as well as conduct applied research to foster the market for renewable energy technologies.

David Lecoque, CEO of ARE said: “This MoU exemplifies ARE’s ambition to work in tandem with national counterparts to boost renewable electrification at the country level. The cooperation with COPERES empowers efforts to drive and expand clean and affordable electrification across rural Senegal”.

Karim NDIAYE, President of COPERES said: “COPERES is very pleased with this partnership, which fits well with our missions. We need a strong and innovative private sector in renewable energy. We look forward to a fruitful cooperation with ARE”.

19 November 2021: The African Development Bank Group and the Government of Burundi on Tuesday signed a $29 million grant agreement to finance Phase 1 of the Access to Energy Project, which is part of the country's infrastructure development program.

The agreement was signed during an official meeting in Bujumbura between the African Development Bank Group's Director General for East Africa, Nnenna Nwabufo, and Burundi's Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Domitien Ndihokubwayo.

Nwabufo was in Burundi to reaffirm the Bank's commitment to the Burundian government's 2018-2027 National Development Plan. She was accompanied by Daniel Ndoye, the Bank's Country Manager in Burundi, and Marcellin Ndong-Ntah, Chief Economist for East Africa.

Phase I of the Energy Access Project will benefit not only the population but also private sector development, said Ndihokubwayo, welcoming the Bank's donation. The Minister stressed that cooperation between the African Development Bank and the Government of Burundi was well under way.

"The African Development Bank is once again pleased to expand the list of agreements signed with Burundi," said Nwabufo. "Our support will not be limited to the energy sector. It will also take into account agriculture and job creation for young people in the coming years."