Friday, 11 September

Dear <<First Name>> ,

The business community may have read with interest this week how the AfDB sees the private sector as key to Africa’s development, and is actively looking for ways it can strengthen support of public-private partnerships.

And the bank is absolutely right: sustainable economic growth in Africa will never be achieved any time soon without investments from both private and public sectors.

But for many countries in Africa it is the private sector in particular that holds the key for rapid economic growth, as well as any chance of achieving the SDGs. Businesses create jobs, boost trade and provide goods and services, while at the same time generating tax revenue for governments to fund healthcare, education and other vital public services. The private sector also typically moves more quickly and is motivated more by what the market requires than by short-term political distortions and inefficiencies.

The private sector is often viewed with suspicion by many in the public and third sectors.  We say that the private sector is key to achieving the aims of countries and donors, and we are actively working to mobilise private sector developers and capital to spur development and climate change mitigation.  

If you want to know more about Camco’s work and the projects it supports, please take a look at the website here.

Cheers

Geoff

Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy

West Africa

Gabon: New power lines and hydro plants will be a major boost for electricity access (Agence Ecofin)
- Up to 40,000 households to benefit from the 750km of new or rehabilitated lines and three new dams with 146MW total capacity.

Gambia: Government seeks consultants for 150MW solar-plus-storage project (PV-Magazine)
- Two tenders issued in relation to an environmental impact study and finding transaction advisors for the ongoing project.

Mali: Two 100kWp solar power plants commissioned at a university and hospital in Bamako (Afrik21)
- Installations part of a cooperation program between Mali and Lithuania which is expected to lead to further clean energy facilities.

Nigeria: Dollar scarcity threatens major power producer's operations (FT) / (This Day)
- World Bank-backed Azura Power provides a tenth of the country's power.

East Africa

Kenya: State agencies top the list of electricity defaulters, adding to Kenya Power’s woes (Nation)
- National Treasury called to step in after agencies accumulated a combined debt of Sh4.7 billion as of June 2020.

Kenya: GDC launches exploratory drilling at Korosi geothermal site (Afrik21)
- Drillings form part of the 3GW Baringo-Silali geothermal project.

Southern Africa

South Africa: Recent breakthrough will allow for the acquisition of surplus power (ESI)
- NERSA concurrence with Section 34 Determination will allow for an additional 11,813MW to be acquired by 2022.

South Africa: IFC and FMO extend US$225 million loan to FirstRand Bank for green projects (Afrik21)
- Funds will finance green projects of the country's SMEs and support climate-friendly infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing initiatives.

Zimbabwe: Caledonia Mining to construct 20MW solar PV plant for its Blanket gold mine (Afrik21)
- US$13 million acquired through share sale for construction of project, which is intended to offset impact of load shedding.

Africa - general

General: Solarise Africa mobilises a further US$10 million in Series B investment round (ESI)
- Proparco now joins EAV and EDFI ElectriFI as investors in the pan-African energy leasing company.

General: AfDB hosts discussions on how to strengthen support for Public Private Partnerships (ESI)
- According to the AfDB PPPs will play a crucial role in addressing Africa's infrastructure needs by overcoming the large financing gap.

Rest of World

General: Report claims EU states will miss Paris target (renews.biz)
- NECPs show 11 out of 18 nations are not planning to phase out coal by 2030.

Currencies