Boosting green energy investments in West Africa

In November 2020, the EU announced it would provide further funding of EUR 10 million for the Climate Investor One (CI1) facility to boost renewable energy in Nigeria. The contribution is channelled through the EU’s close partner, the Dutch development bank FMO. Together with the original commitment of EUR 30 million, the top-up has the potential to unlock a further estimated EUR 100 million in renewable energy investments. Some of the funding may target projects such as KONEXA, a 2.5 MW solar project using battery storage with scale-up potential in Kaduna, Nigeria, which has already received approval for development activities under CI1’s Development Fund and is expected to enter the construction phase in 2021.

This additional EU funding stems from the approval of the Nigeria Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) and represents a significant contribution to a dedicated and ring-fenced renewable energy facility for projects in Nigeria. CI1 can now deliver affordable sustainable growth by adding to the strength and growth of the existing pipeline of Nigerian renewable energy projects. Collectively, these projects represent an estimated opportunity of over 150 MW.

In January 2021, Daystar Power, a leading provider of off-grid hybrid solar power solutions to businesses in West Africa, announced fundraising worth EUR 31 million. This includes a EUR 4 million equity investment by Proparco, the French development finance institution, backed by a guarantee from the EU under the Africa Renewable Energy Scale-up Facility (ARESUF). Daystar Power’s solutions ‘Solar-as-a-Service’ (100 % solar power) and ‘Power-as-a-Service’ (hybrid power solutions with battery storage) provide clean and reliable power while reducing clients’ overall power costs.

The investment will help Daystar Power grow its operations in Nigeria and Ghana, while deepening its presence in other west African countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo. Daystar Power is on track to expand its installed capacity to over 100 megawatts, meeting demand from its clients in the financial services, manufacturing, agricultural and natural resources sectors.

These actions are in line with the EU’s Green Deal and the strategy to mobilise private sector investment to increase access to modern, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy services, including for vulnerable communities and the private sector, in particular SMEs. This in turn can attract additional financing, enhancing the long-term sustainability of investment and creating further growth.

Read more about CI1 here

Read more about ARESUF here