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Friday, 23 April

Dear <<First Name>>

I don’t know if it’s just me, but didn’t Earth Day really pack a punch this week? From Extinction Rebellion activists dumping manure at the White House to US President Joe Biden declaring the 2020s the “decisive decade” on climate action, it seemed everyone had something they wanted to say on the state of the planet.

Speaking at the Climate Leaders’ Summit, President Biden went on to unveil his plans to cut the US’s emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030. His tough targets may prove unpalatable for many in his divided nation right now – and it’s going to be fascinating to see how things unfold over the coming months - but he is certainly raising the level of ambition that we want to see ahead of COP26 in November.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson then urged other nations to show similar ambition before making the very good point that responding to the climate emergency would be good for economic growth and jobs - something that many in the sustainability world have been advocating for a long time. Focusing on the broader socio-economic benefits of climate action and the potential of the green recovery is just the sort of pragmatic approach that will seize the attention of the private sector, which I firmly believe will be the driving force behind effective climate action.

There is, however, a lot of scepticism still around the green economy and a clear reluctance from investors to give up on fossil fuels just yet. There is a mountain of evidence to support Johnson’s claim, but for whatever reason it is not landing in the right places or with the necessary weight to draw more investment into green sectors. As companies operating in this space, we need to do more to broadcast the hard data that will convince lenders that this is where they should be putting their money. 

If you’ve been following Camco on social media this week, you might know that we published our first impact report on Tuesday. I mention this because it is an example – we hope - of the integrated sustainability reporting that I believe has a very big role to play in joining up the dots between social and environmental impact and economic growth and investment opportunity.

Cheers

Geoff 

Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy

Camco news
Earlier this week, Camco launched its first annual impact report! This interactive report provides a quantitative overview of Camco’s realised impact against key performance targets, including mitigated GHG emissions, first-time energy access and renewable energy capacity installed. (Camco)
Story of the week
A recent Memorandum of Intent, signed between Botswana and Namibia, could see the development of a 5,000MWp solar mega project. The project is backed by several large multilateral agencies and will begin pre-feasibility studies in the next few months. (Afrik21)
 

West Africa

Ghana: Bui Power Authority connects 22.25MWp solar plant to the grid (Afrik21)
- The plant in the northeast of the country will be connected by GRIDCo and is expected to help stabilise the national grid during the dry season.

Niger: World Bank extends USD150 million in support for Kandadji hydro project (Energy Mix Report)
- The project aims to increase electricity production, whilst regulating the river’s flow to improve agriculture production capabilities.

East Africa

Burundi: Government approves the construction of two hydroelectric facilities (Afrik21)
- Located on the Mulembwe and Ruvyironza rivers, these power stations are being developed by IPP Songa Energy and  will generate a combined capacity of 10.65MWp.

Southern Africa

Botswana/Namibia: Agreement signed for the implementation of 5,000MWp solar project (Afrik21)
- The solar complex will be sited along the border of both countries and has received backing from the IFC, AfDB and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Bird).

Eswatini: Preferred bidder for two 15MWac projects announced (ESI)
- The Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) has officially announced that the Globeleq and Sturdee Energy Consortium is the preferred bidder for both solar PV projects.

Zimbabwe: Government to allocate funds for 100MW wind farm (ESI)
- The funds will be used to carry out a feasibility study for the project, which the government hopes will achieve electricity generation by 2025.

Africa - general

General: The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency issues guarantees for rural Bboxx operations (Afrik21)
- In an attempt to mitigate the risks associated with rural solar home systems, The World Bank subsidiary has issued a guarantee for USD37.1 million for two infrastructure investment funds over a period of 10 years.

General: ESG investment in Sub-Saharan Africa is linked to sustainable development (Fitch Ratings)
- ESG’s investment approach is closely tied to longer-term sustainable development benchmarks, which shape how borrowers in the region frame sustainable investment opportunities.

Rest of World

Batteries: Battery energy storage market expected to grow by 23% by 2030 (ESI)
- According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, national decarbonisation plans are driving an increased demand for battery storage.

Emissions: Global CO2 emissions set for second-biggest increase in history (IEA)
- Due to a rebound in demand for coal in electricity generation, emissions in 2021 are set to surge by 1.5 billion tons. This figure would be the highest on record since 2010, reversing most of last year’s COVID-19 related emissions decline.

General: Biden leads push for ‘decisive decade’ in fight against climate change (BBC)
- US president unveils new target to cut carbon emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030 at major US-led climate summit which aims to encourage countries to raise their climate ambitions.

General: Recent report outlines the difficulties of investing in early-stage companies in Africa (Sun Connect)
- Read this short excerpt from Chasing Outliers: Why Context Matters for Early Stage Investing in Africa

Solar: LONGi sets industry record of 24.53GW of solar module shipments in 2020 (PV-Tech)
- This milestone marks LONGi’s achievement of becoming the largest PV manufacturer in the world, the first time the organisation has achieved this title.

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