AFRIGREEN is a €100 million Debt Impact Fund (with a €125 million hard cap) dedicated to financing renewable energy projects across Central and West Africa, in particular solar energy financing. Managed by RGREEN INVEST, the fund aims to provide long term debt solutions to renewable energy projects: solar, electricity storage, wind, biomass and hybrid projects.
The purpose of this Fund is twofold: first, to support African SMEs and SMIs in cutting down their energy bill as well as their diesel dependency; second, to facilitate the transition to green energy by increasing the penetration of solar photovoltaics in Africa. AFRIGREEN aims to finance projects up to 15 MW, with a particular emphasis on solar photovoltaics, particularly for Commercial and Industrials or Utility. The fund’s goals include installing 100 MW of renewable capacity, avoiding 70,000 tons of CO2 emissions, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels by targeting 15 million liters of fuel consumption.
Solar Energy Financing: Financial Structure and Investment Strategy
AFRIGREEN operates as a senior debt impact fund, providing long-term project finance debt across Africa. It offers flexible financing solutions, including direct project lending and asset-based debt facilities. The fund is designed to finance projects with varying sizes and needs, from 100 kW to 15 MW, covering both on-grid and off-grid solutions. Loans are offered in multiple currencies, including EUR, USD, NGN, and GHS.
The Fund ambitions to finance, through direct project lending and asset-based debt facilities, solar photovoltaic energy infrastructure distributed across Central and West Africa, with a particular focus on Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana and Cameroon.
Solar Energy Financing: Impact and ESG Alignment
AFRIGREEN DEBT IMPACT Fund is classified as article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and is aligned with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). The fund’s investment strategy includes providing financial products to small and medium enterprises, promoting the use of renewable energy, and contributing to climate action with a minimum target of €35 million in capital deployment.
Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) establishes requirements for investment funds with clear sustainability objectives, also known as \”Dark Green\” funds. These funds must have a majority of their portfolio invested in ESG-focused assets and meet certain benchmarks. Article 9 funds are subject to more disclosure requirements than Article 8 funds, which also consider ESG factors but may have broader investment goals.
Solar Energy Financing: Key Partnerships and Risk Management
AFRIGREEN is a French limited partnership funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO Invest), PROPARCO (Groupe Agence Française de Développement), Société Générale and BNP Paribas.
The Fund is managed by RGREEN INVEST, an investment manager regulated by the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
ECHOSYS INVEST is a 50/50 joint venture (registered as Conseiller en Investissement Financier CIF in France) between RGREEN INVEST and ECHOSYS ADVISORY created in 2021 as the dedicated AFRIGREEN fund advisor designed to manage and structure the AFRIGREEN investment strategy. Its purpose is to focus on Africa’s energy transition, and more specifically to bolster solar penetration across the Sub-Saharan region.
Initiatives and funds such as AGRIGREEN represent a significant step towards a sustainable future for Africa, harnessing the power of the sun to provide energy to the African continent offering investors a unique opportunity to contribute to the continent\’s green energy transition while achieving financial returns.
Solar energy for Africa is such a plausible solution, we need to implement more of it.
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For more information, you can visit the AGRIGREEN page.