The DR Congo’s Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity and the country’s National Rural Electrification Agency (ANSER) have opened a fund that will provide grants for solar home systems, minigrids and clean cooking solutions in the country.
The Mwinda Fund forms part of the government’s Access, Governance and Reforms Project for the Electricity and Water Sectors (AGREE) project, which is aiming to increase both grid and off-grid energy access in DR Congo.
The fund is aiming to distribute $500 million in support over a 5-year period between 2025 and 2029. The World Bank has already provided $65 million in funding, while the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet announced $7 million for the program in September.
A first call for projects has been launched, according to details published by ANSER, with the first financial distributions expected to be delivered next year.
Consulting and fund management firm GreenMax Capital Group has been tasked with developing and managing the implementation of the fund, as well as assisting the government and ANSER with raising enough capital to reach the $500 million target.
Founder & CEO of GreenMax Capital Group, Clifford J Aron, explained the fund will implement catalytic grants for minigrid developers, as well as a guarantee facility to enable local banks to provide construction loans for minigrids. “These innovative financing mechanisms will be instrumental in unlocking scalable, community-driven energy solutions and expanding private investment for energy access,” Aron added.
The fund is also a pillar of the World Bank-led Mission 300 project, an initiative aiming to provide electricity to 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
Sub-Saharan Africa is currently home to eight in every ten people without electricity globally and DR Congo has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world. World Bank data from 2023 found that only 22% of the population has access to electricity.
Government figures added that electrification rates in rural areas of DR Congo stand at around 2%. The country has set a target of increasing its electrification rate to 50% by the end of the decade while diversifying energy sources and promoting its energy transition.
In October 2024, Indian developer Soleos Energy began building a 200 MW solar park in DR Congo, with the project set for commissioning next year.
According to the Africa Solar Industry Association’s (AFSIA) project database, DR Congo currently has 51.6 MW of operational solar, 22.3 MW of which comes from minigrids or solar home systems. The country has a further 282 MW of solar under construction.
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