Investment vehicle Zafiri launches with $176m to support African distributed renewables firms
A new investment vehicle dedicated to deploying long-term equity into distributed renewable energy businesses across sub-Saharan Africa has been launched with initial committed capital of $176-million.
Known as Zafiri, the blended-finance vehicle is a flagship programme under the broader Mission 300 initiative, which has been created with the objective of expanding electricity access to 300-million people in the region by 2030.
Its founding shareholders include the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank Group, including its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, The Rockefeller Foundation, Trade and Development Bank Group, Nordic Development Fund, the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and FirstRand Limited.
African climate investment firm Inspired Evolution has been mandated by the investors to be Zafiri’s investment manager.
