World Bank

A new foundation set up by KfW will offer grants to attract investment in a bid to offer more than 350,000 people access to clean electricity.

U.S.-based Husk Power Systems has installed six solar mini-grids in the West African nation and aims to build more than 500 by 2026 with the help of World Bank funding.

A 100 MWac solar farm planned in the Katanga region will be boosted by an additional credit line after the International Finance Corporation and the British and Norwegian government-owned Globeleq came on board.

Two investors backed by the charitable foundations set up by energy giants have seed-funded the cash pot to lend to African solar companies, who will be able to buy solar kit cheaper thanks to the economies of scale offered by the aggregation of orders.

Former start-up Husk, which originally based its business on renewables powered by rice industry waste products, has agreed to develop seven solar-plus-storage mini-grids across rural communities in Nasarawa state.

‘More than 90’ suppliers of appliances such as solar lanterns and home solar panels, as well as mini-grid installers, will be offered low-interest credit by an assortment of government-backed and privately-financed entities.

The new facility is the first of almost 1 GW of solar generation capacity Emirati developer Masdar is working on bringing to fruition in the Central Asian nation.

U.S.-owned, Nairobi-based mini-grid developer PowerGen has already rolled out seven local solar networks in the West African country, funded by equity investors who will recoup their cash when all 28 systems are sold to CrossBoundary Energy Access.

A report commissioned by EU lender the EIB has dismissed the role solar mini-grids can play in achieving universal electrification by 2030 and signaled distribution to individual households should be the way forward, including sales to the residents of UN refugee camps in East Africa.

Some 22 villages in Busia county will receive a total of 7,000 electricity connection points plus solar-powered street lighting and water services after InfraCo Africa invested $4.2 million acquiring 40% of developer Kudura Power East Africa.