Proparco has extended a €37 million guarantee to South Africa’s Standard Bank to finance the construction of a 37 MW photovoltaic solar power plant in Namibia.

The operation consists of a EURIZ portfolio guarantee of N$ 68m (EUR 4m) to support First National Bank of Namibia Limited (FNB Namibia Ltd) in its financing to high-impact MSMEs. A signing ceremony was held in Windhoek on 19 October 2021, in the presence of representatives from Proparco, FNB Namibia, AFD, the French Embassy and the EU Delegation to Namibia. FNB Namibia is a long-standing partner of Proparco, and AFD Group, having already benefited from two portfolio guarantees in 2011 and 2014.

In March 2018, Proparco allocated a EUR 37million guarantee to South African bank Standard Bank to cover its loan to finance the construction of a 37 MW photovoltaic farm in Namibia. A little more than a year after, the solar power plant, located near the city of Mariental in the Hardap region, has just been inaugurated this morning, in the presence of the Minister of Energy and representatives of Proparco, Alten Renewable Energy, which developed the project, Standard Bank and the national utility, NamPower.Diabira.

UNLOCK is Proparco’s innovative guarantee scheme offered to financial institutions to jointly cover the risk on long-term financing in local currency for key development projects.