Proparco makes $25M investment into small-scale renewable energy capacity buildout in sub-Saharan Africa
published on 02 June 2022
French Development Finance Institution Proparco invests 25 MUSD in Serengeti Energy, a Sub-Saharan hydro and solar-specialized independent power producer which develops, constructs, owns and operates grid-connected renewable energy resources in a region that is currently heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
Sub Saharan Africa still depends heavily on fossil fuel based generation, which makes it crucial that investments in renewable generation keeps on increasing, adding environmentally and socially sustainable and cost-efficient capacity to the grid. Most countries in the region have an installed generation capacity with insufficient renewable base-load feature, underpinning the need to invest further in renewable energy sources. In addition, a combination of favorable conditions, such as Africa being a continent with high hydro and solar resources unexploited to this day, is driving the build-out of renewable energy capacity.
Proparco’s investment is expected to increase the production of renewable energy, contribute to increasing energy access and promote sustainable economic development. The investment is made in a part of the world that lacks access to early-stage capital for power projects whilst simultaneously facing significant needs of additional sustainable energy capacity.
Serengeti Energy is well-known within the Development Finance Institution group with previous equity raised from the German Development Bank, KfW, the Norwegian Development Finance Institution, Norfund and the Nordic Development Fund, NDF. Founded in 2013, Nairobi-based team established itself as a qualified small-to-medium-size project developer through the constitution of a diversified portfolio of 7 operating assets spread around South Africa, Uganda and Rwanda, which will be complemented in the near term by 2 additional assets currently under construction in Malawi plus Sierra Leone, to total 70+MW capacity.
Proparco will provide its capital as part of a structured fund raise of USD 80m, alongside Swedish Development Finance Institution Swedfund and STOA, a French impact fund specialized in infrastructure investment.
“By investing in Serengeti Energy, Proparco is strengthening its already existing renewable energy portfolio with small-scale hydro and solar power in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also an opportunity for Proparco to contribute to sustainable economic development, including climate change mitigation, by supporting access to reliable and affordable renewable energy. With this project, Proparco supports the strengthening of Serengeti Energy’s Environmental, Social and Governance processes within climate, biodiversity and gender”, said Damien Braud, Head of Private Equity for Africa and the Middle East.
