Acumen launches $250 million fund for off-grid solar in Africa; Proparco, BII and FMO to back Sierra Leone’s ‘1st’ large-scale grid connected solar IPP project; Germany pledges €4 billion to invest in green energy in Africa.
$250 million for clean energy in Africa: Acumen, an energy non-profit, has launched a new initiative called Hardest-to-Reach with $250 million in funding from global investors to promote clean energy access in Africa. Acumen calls it the 1st blended finance initiative exclusively dedicated to expanding clean and affordable energy access for low-income people in neglected markets in the continent. It will support off-grid solar companies through flexible, impact-first financing. Focused on underserved geographies of Africa, the initiative was launched at the COP28 with key funders being USAID Power Africa, Sir Christopher Hohn, The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), and Shinhan Bank, among others. Green Climate Fund alone has pitched in with $65 million in direct funding.
Green Climate Fund’s Executive Director Mafalda Duarte said, “The Hardest-to-Reach programme blends debt, equity, grants and technical assistance to create and open up markets in new regions, providing clean energy for an estimated 60-plus million people across 16 countries, including Somalia.”
50 MW solar plant in Sierra Leone: The ‘first’ large-scale grid connected solar independent power producer (IPP) project in Sierra Leone has raised more than $52 million from Development finance institutions British International Investment (BII), FMO, and Proparco, and renewable fund manager Frontier Energy. The 50 MW greenfield solar power plant Planet Solar will increase the operational domestic electricity capacity of the African nation by 30%. It will provide grid-connected clean energy to commercial and industrial entities, public institutions, and households.
German funding for African energy projects: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently pledged €4 billion ($4.3 billion) investment in green energy in Africa until 2030. He made the announcement during the G20 Compact With Africa Conference. It includes 13 African countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia. Scholz said it will entail African countries to produce green hydrogen with Germany as the buyer.
