The AfricaGoGreen Fund (AGGF) is attracting new investors. This financing mechanism of the German Development Agency (KfW) has just completed its second round of financing with 47 million dollars. The funds were raised from several development partners, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The World Bank Group’s private sector financing arm is investing USD 17 million.
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) are each investing $10 million. These investments are accompanied by debt, including $30 million from the IFC and $10 million from Calvert Impact Capital, an impact investment company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Financing “climate-friendly projects”
With this round of financing, AGGF wants to expand the financing of “climate-friendly projects” in Africa. The fund will focus on the purchase of high-efficiency household appliances and industrial equipment, the renovation of existing buildings and the construction of new green buildings, as well as the installation of rooftop solar panels and electricity storage batteries for residential, commercial and industrial consumers.
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Launched in 2021 with the aim of raising between $230 and $250 million, AGGF has already raised $138 million. The funds are being reinvested in a number of projects and businesses in Africa. In November 2022, AGGF contributed $5 million to a $33.4 million fundraising effort by Solarise Africa, a company that provides solar photovoltaic energy to businesses in Africa.
A few weeks earlier, the AfricaGoGreen Fund underwrote a bond issue by AktivCo, Camusat’s energy services company (ESCO). AktivCo provides clean energy to power telecom towers in sub-Saharan Africa. For the record, the AGGF is accompanied by a $3.3 million technical assistance facility from KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ), which supports project development and market research, and provides transaction advice and capacity building to stakeholders.
Jean Marie Takouleu