Friday, 22 October

Dear <<First Name>>

Renewable energy companies that are managed or owned by women are few and far between in Sub-Saharan Africa, just as the proportion of jobs held by women in the clean energy sector remains very low compared with men. Similarly, the views of women are still being regularly overlooked when it comes to project planning and stakeholder engagement - something I find baffling given that in most households in the region women (and girls) and the primary energy users.

And so it was with great pleasure that we were able to announce this week that REPP, managed by our great team here at Camco, has passed a major milestone by investing in a majority women-led company for the first time.

The Moyamba solar mini-grid project in Sierra Leone is being developed by Energicity (SL) Limited - a subsidiary of Energicity Corp, which was co-founded by distinguished clean energy entrepreneur and former investment banker, Nicole Poindexter. The company won a concession to build and/or upgrade and operate 32 sites from the country’s Rural Renewable Electrification Project. This project was established to help Sierra Leone build back better after the devastating 2014 Ebola crisis. 

REPP’s USD 1.25m loan will enable the completion of the project and provide funding for the operation of all 32 sites, which are situated in Sierra Leone’s Port Loko, Kambia, Karene and Moyamba districts. Once completed, the mini-grids will provide a minimum daily amount of power to community health centres free of charge, as well as first-time access to electricity to nearly 80,000 people. 

We hope and fully expect Moyamba to be the first of many women-led companies to get REPP’s backing. But for now I want to join Camco’s REPP team and everyone at Energicity in celebrating this achievement.

Cheers

Geoff Sinclair

Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy

West Africa

Burkina Faso: Make It Happen In Africa investment platform launches (Afrik21)
- The initiative aims to make investments in renewable energy, starting with a solar PV project in Zano.

East Africa

Kenya: Increasing pressure on IPPs (thinkGeoenergy)
- The pressure to lower electricity tariffs marks an attempt to increase demand and attract investment in the country. 

Kenya: Co-operative Bank of Kenya boosts green financing (CoopNews)
- A loan portfolio agreement worth KES750 million has been signed with the African Guarantee Fund to support emerging renewables projects.

Southern Africa

Botswana: Tlou Energy eyes PPA with government (EngineeringNews)
- The company expects to sign a 10MW PPA with the Botswana Power Corporation for power generated by the Lesedi project. 

Eswatini: Frazium Energy launches solar storage plan (EnergyVoice)
- The project requires an investment of USD115 million, and upon completion will be one of the largest solar battery projects in Africa, with an initial capacity of 100MW.

SADC: African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) raises funds for renewable energy (Afrik21)
- The private equity fund manager is raising USD376 million for clean energy in Southern Africa.

South Africa: Country seeks ZAR400 billion from global lenders (BizCommunity)
- This financing will be used to help shift the nation away from coal and towards greener power generation.

Africa - general

Egypt: Globeleq acquires 66MWp Benban solar plant (ESI)
- The independent power company’s entry into the market gives them a platform for future investments.

Egypt: Tripartite agreement signed with Greece and Cyprus for electricity interconnection (Afrik21)
- This agreement gives Egypt the opportunity to market its energy in Europe.

Solar: d.light raises USD15 million for solar power (Afrik21)
- The American company has raised funds from several European financial institutions to distribute its solar lighting kits.

Rest of World

Jobs: Investing in renewables creates more jobs than spending on fossil fuels (GlobalCitizen)
- Researchers claim that green energy investments can help economies to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic by creating more jobs.

Wind: GeoSUN expands into wind energy measurement industry (EngineeringNews)
- The solar resource technical service provider has expanded to create GeoWIND, a new brand that will offer wind resource measurements through wind masts as well as light detection and ranging.

Share this newsletter!

Currencies