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BBOXX on 11 January announced it was expanding operations in Democratic Republic of Congo through a partnership with Netherlands-based component manufacturer Victron Energy. The pair are targeting sales of large pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar systems in towns and cities across the country.The systems will use BBOXX’s PAYG model and Victron’s energy components. BBOXX already sells 50W systems in rural areas of Goma, which has a population of more than 1.5m and suffers frequent blackouts, but is hoping that its partnership with Victron will facilitate sales to urban businesses of larger, 0.5-5kW systems.

Saudi-owned Acwa Power has bought into the cryptocurrency trend by becoming the first major developer to adopt a reward programme for solar generation. SolarCoin provides digital tokens for every MWh of solar energy produced. Acwa Power said the deal would “provide a supplementary means of payment for goods and services”. SolarCoin operates like other cryptocurrencies, which have to be earned or ‘mined’ in some way. Bitcoin is mined by decrypting a digital code, which requires a large amount of computer power.

Gigawatt Global and Energiya Global Capital have announced plans to construct ten solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants with a capacity of 10MW each at several university campuses in Ethiopia. The project, which is being discussed with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, is part of a broader plan to train hundreds of thousands of students in what will be living laboratories for solar and other green energy, according to the solar developer.

French utility Engie announced on 15 January the acquisition of two more companies – West Africa-focused Afric Power and Tieri – operating in the decentralised energy industry. On the same day, Engie’s impact investment fund Engie Rassembleurs d’Energies was part of a consortium, alongside Shell Technology Ventures LLC and Sweden’s Swedfund, which made a $20m equity investment in Husk Power Systems, a company operating mini-grids in Asia and Africa.

Finland’s Wärtsilä announced on 22 December that it has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Tasiast Mauritanie Ltd, a subsidiary of Canadian gold miner Kinross Gold Corporation, to supply a 60MW turnkey power plant for the second phase expansion of the Tasiast mine. The power plant will operate using six Wärtsilä 32TS engines. Commercial operation of the phase two expansion, which will raise output to 30,000 t/d, is expected to begin in Q3 2020. Wärtsilä supplied engines for the 19MW power plant serving the Tasiast mine’s phase 1B project.

Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is inviting expressions of interest from renewable energy developers interested in applying for grants from the Rural Electrification Fund. The purpose of the grants is to support projects targeting remote or underserved communities which would not be economically viable without grant funding.

It has been a season of fundraising and new partnerships in the off-grid sector. The latest announcement, this time from Greenlight Planet, illustrates the growing scale of private investment into the sector. The company raised $60m in debt and equity, as well as announcing a partnership with a new investor, London-based private equity company Apis Partners, to focus on developing a range of products with in-built pay-as-you-go (PAYG) technology, the latest in a stream of specialist investors into the sector.

Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is inviting expressions of interest from potential administrators for the Rural Electrification Fund, which will provide capital grants to fund the REA’s rural electrification programme.

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.

Off-grid solar start-up Zonful Energy says it has connected 3,480 households under a pay-as-you-go-solar credit scheme in rural Zimbabwe that is being rolled out from a $50,000 loan sourced from US non-profit lender Kiva. Chief executive William Ponella said his company, which launched the country’s first known pay-as-you-go-solar credit scheme in March in partnership with mobile giant Econet Wireless, aimed to switch on about 380,000 households by 2020.

While most businesses remain unprofitable and the market is immature, it is clear that the off-grid and embedded solar industry has made hugely important strides in Africa over the past year or so. Every week sees new rooftop facilities at shopping centres and warehouses, containerised solutions at universities and hospitals, small ground-mounted plants supplying airports and mines, household systems and mini-grids supplying the continent’s richest and poorest people, and an array of solar powered gadgets and lighting solutions.

German rental solar company Redavia has begun operating two mini-grids which will serve as pilots for a possible roll-out across the country. The two 89kWp solar photovoltaic and Qinous lithium-ion battery-powered mini-grids at Isenzanya and Shitunguru villages, in the Songwe region, could serve up to 1,000 households in the area. The projects are the company’s first community-based solar container plants. 
The projects emerged after Redavia began looking for new opportunities in Tanzania following the completion of its first project at Shanta Gold’s New Luika mine in 2014.

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.

Mobisol has teamed up with West African solar distributor Baobab+ to provide pay-as-you-go solar systems in Côte d’Ivoire. A joint statement said the cooperation combined Mobisol’s strengths in provision of solar hardware and software with Baobab+’s regional experience in customer finance and distribution. Baobab+ was launched in 2015 by microfinance services provider Microcred Group, which has a network of 20 branches and 100,000 clients in Côte d’Ivoire. Mobisol will provide hardware and software, while Baobab+ will focus on sales and distribution.

London headquartered off-grid solar company BBOXX announced on 23 October that it has agreed a $5m loan facility with Essential Capital Consortium, a $50m social enterprise fund managed by Deutsche Asset Management that closed in March 2015. The loan will be used to expand the company’s operations in Rwanda. The loan facility will be managed by Atlas Mara’s Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR), which has a relationship with BBOXX.