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After winning a tender in 2017 to provide electricity to 300,000 households in Togo over five years, off-grid solar company BBOXX has launched a new distributed energy service company (desco) to handle in-country operations. BBOXX Togo is owned by BBOXX alongside EDF and BBOXX equity partner Beam. BBOXX is already supplying electricity to 26,000 households, having opened around 20 shops employing 100 people.

Togo
Issue 359 - 07 December 2017

Mobisol: Investec investment

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Investec Asset Management announced on 30 November that a follow-on equity investment has been made by a consortium of investors in off-grid solar home system provider Mobisol. Investec, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation and Dutch development bank FMO initially bought into the company in late 2016, supporting the growth of Mobisol’s operations in Tanzania and Rwanda as well as a move into Kenya. Berlin-headquartered Mobisol has raised more than $25m over the last six months in debt and equity.

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A forthcoming paper by Durham University researchers Andrew Crossland, Oghenetejiri Anuta, Neal Wade and Bronwyn McNeil, in partnership with a solar photovoltaic (PV) installer in Rwanda, has found that inappropriate use of off-grid solar PV systems installed at health facilities and schools by NGOs is pushing up costs and shortening lifespans. “The cycle life of the batteries people are experiencing is two years, but we think you could increase that to five or six years at a minimum simply by changing the way you operate and by changing the way you design the systems,” Crossland told African Energy.

Rwanda
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Private equity firm Bamboo Capital Partners and impact investor Persistent Energy Capital announced on 6 November a strategic partnership to invest in companies active in the off-grid energy sector in Africa. Under the partnership, Bamboo Capital will invest in Persistent Energy through its $53m Oasis Fund.

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Australian gold miner Resolute Mining has signed a joint development agreement with South Africa’s Ignite Energy Projects for a 40MW solar hybrid power plant at the Syama gold mine. The plant, which will combine solar photovoltaic (PV), battery and heavy fuel oil (HFO) technologies, will be built and financed as an independent power producer (IPP). Resolute said it would be the world’s largest off-grid, fully integrated hybrid power plant for a stand-alone mining operation when it enters full operation by the end of 2020.

Mali
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The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and France’s EDF Group have signed an agreement to co-operate in the development of off-grid electrification in emerging markets, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. IFC said the pair would develop “affordable and sustainable solutions for rural electrification”, working together to source financing for potential projects, share expertise and explore co-investment opportunities, with a joint investment vehicle on the cards. A pilot project is being put in place in Benin, where 25,000 people will be supplied with power using solar and diesel-powered hybrid networks and two biomass-fired power plants.

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The coronavirus pandemic has so far been characterised by the dramatic speed of infection and a rapid escalation of policy responses by governments. While Africa has so far been less affected than Europe, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March announced a 21-day lockdown to begin on 26 March, and it is likely that many more countries will follow. The continent has had at least 2,000 recorded cases, mostly among people travelling from Europe, and almost certainly many more in reality.

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Energy and water resources minister Oluniyi Robbin-Coker is trying to mobilise limited resources to build generation capacity and overhaul a decrepit transmission and distribution system. With demand from the mining industry rising and access to power at just 6%, the government has set an ambitious target of installing 1GW of capacity in the next seven years. Sierra Leone has 92MW of installed capacity, including the 50MW Bumbuna dam inaugurated in November 2009, though the country has an estimated 2GW of hydro potential.

Sierra Leone
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London Stock Exchange-listed Ncondezi Energy Ltd announced on 23 October that it has signed a subscription agreement and shareholders’ agreement with GridX Africa Development and GridX Africa AssetCo to finance development of a 400kWp off-grid solar plant with a 228kW, 912kWh battery for a hotel in Mozambique. A 165kVA diesel generator will provide back-up power. Commissioning is expected within eight months and the plant will generate around 660MWh/yr.

Mozambique
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Two very different communities are coming closer together to see if they can enact radical change in regions of sub-Saharan Africa that have little realistic chance of being connected to secure electricity grids. Already on the ground are the off-grid pioneers – often supported by individual donors and NGOs, philanthropic and other impact investors, such as the Shell Foundation – who have usually focused on small-scale projects.

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US-based investment firm Persistent Energy Capital has injected $1m into Zonful Energy, one of Zimbabwe’s fastest-growing off-grid energy companies. The partnership will give Zonful access to Persistent’s technical and advisory support in finance, financial management and information technology (IT). Persistent’s partner company Catalyst is already working with Zonful to build IT infrastructure to support the company’s ambitious growth plans. The has enabled Zonful to unlock a matching grant of $1m from the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF).

Zimbabwe
Issue 356 - 27 October 2017

Engie buys solar provider Fenix

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France’s Engie has agreed to buy Uganda-based pay-as-you-go solar provider Fenix International. Fenix chief executive Lyndsay Handler told African Energy Fenix would retain its identity but the partnership would offer economies of scale that would significantly reduce the cost of equipment and financing. She said solar home systems (SHS) were a very working capital-intensive business and companies like Fenix and M-Kopa paid high interest rates for their debt. Combining the two companies’ purchasing power for solar equipment would cut costs.

Uganda
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Genser Energy Ghana Ltd announced in December that it had reached financial close on a $366m financing agreement that will fund the expansion of its business in Ghana. The transaction funds the expansion of existing plants and the company’s gas pipeline network, as well as new projects that have signed power purchase agreements.The package comprises a $230m syndicated loan alongside a mezzanine loan and preference shares. South Africa’s Standard Bank and Nedbank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and existing lender Barak Fund SPC Ltd financed the senior loan.

Ghana
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The Mozambican government has issued a general procurement notice for a project to support reforms to its renewable energy policy and regulatory framework. The government has received a grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, which is managed by the African Development Bank. The project seeks to put in place a feed-in tariff regime and a mini-grid policy and regulatory framework. Work to be tendered includes the production of standard power purchase agreements for renewable energy projects smaller than 5MW and medium-sized projects of 10MW; guidelines for connection to the distribution network of small renewables projects; and guidelines for renewables investors.

Mozambique
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched prequalification for a tender to develop small solar PV systems to power its operations across three countries.

Kenya | Uganda