US $32.5m approved for energy projects in Africa

US $32.5m has been approved by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) to help with energy projects in Africa.

Amadou Hott, the Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, added that the AfDB’s Board of Directors has made the investment deal with Climate Investor One’s (CIO) Construction Equity Fund (CEF) where nearly 600 million Africans without access to energy, will be able to generate a return to their investors.

The Bank’s investment in the CIO’s CEF which will be managed by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), a joint venture between Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Sanlam InfraWorks will help provide capital and technical assistance for early stage project development to ensure that bankable energy projects are delivered to the market; invest equity for the construction of projects; and provide debt at competitive terms.

The Fund’s focus on investing in early stage project development will also assure the timely implementation of well-prepared projects. The Bank’s participation will be limited to investments within Africa.

“The Bank would be playing a key role as knowledge repository for Africa, enabling CFM to better gauge investment opportunities while ensuring that the highest environmental and social standards are applied to the CEF’s projects,” added, the Bank’s Director of Energy Financial Solutions, Policy & Regulation, Wale Shonibare.

In addition to that CEF is expected to support the establishment of clean energy projects in developing markets by creating jobs and providing access to electricity in underdeveloped markets.