BII,Standard Bank and H1 provide debt financing for Africa’s largest baseload renewable energy project.
BII,Standard Bank and H1 provide debt financing for Africa’s largest baseload renewable energy project.
Also, Impresa Capital acquires Gumtree South Africa,Cathy AfricInvest Innovation Fund( CAIF) records major fund closure.
BII,Standard Bank and H1 provide debt financing for Africa’s largest baseload renewable energy project.
Welcome back to Africa Finance Review your weekly roundup of the top business and financial news, analysis, and conversations for Africa-focused financial professionals.
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In today’s weekly wrap-up edition
British International Investment(BII), Standard Bank, and H1 fund Africa’s baseload largest renewable energy project.
Impresa Capital acquires Gumtree South Africa.
Cathy AfricInvest Innovation Fund( CAIF) records major fund closure.
Kenya receives a $750 million (Sh85.8 billion) loan from the World Bank.
British International Investment (BII), Standard Bank, and H1 are to fund Africa’s largest baseload renewable energy project.
UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, British International Investment (BII), has partnered with Standard Bank and H1 Holdings, South African Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) renewables investment and development company, to reach a financial close on Africa’s first sizable battery energy storage and photovoltaic (PV) solar project in South Africa.
Why is it important :
The project comes as more solar-related projects are being developed to meet the contients’s growing energy needs.
The solar project will provide 540 megawatts (MW) of solar power capacity and 1.1-gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage capacity.
In terms of the private debt financing, Standard Bank has arranged a total of US $720 million senior debt facility for the project.
While British International Investment (BII) would provide a US$135 million senior debt investment along with an additional US$26 million mezzanine financing to H1 Holdings.
The project is South Africa’s first and Africa’s largest baseload renewable energy project.
M & A Actions:
Adevinat ASA has agreed to sell Gumtree South Africa to Impresa Capital which is the majority owned by Ingition Group. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Exim Bank Tanzania Tanzania’s leading financial services provider has acquired assets and liabilities of FNB Bank Tanzania as it continues to grow outside the country.
Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power (‘Mainstream’) have signed an agreement to sell Lekela Power (‘Lekela’), Africa’s largest pure-play renewable energy IPP, to Infinity Group and Africa Finance Corporation (‘AFC’)
Loans Actions:
The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Board of Directors approved a loan worth US$271 million to finance Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Programme to support the country’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the global shocks on the economy.
Kenya has received a US$750 million loan from the World Bank to support its budget and drive fiscal reforms. The concessional loan will have a 3 percent annual interest rate with US$520 million lent through the International Development Association (IDA). It would also have a 30-year maturity with a five-year grace period, and US$230 million through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) with an 18.5-year maturity and a five-year grace period.
Ghana’s parliament has approved a plan to borrow $1 billion (before the end of July) to finance its budget. This includes borrowing of US $750 million from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the remaining batch of $250 million from some international lenders.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved a US$5.4 million grant to support the building of urgently needed food security in Somalia.
Fundraising Events :
AfricInvest and Cathay Innovation have completed the final close of €110M in Cathy AfricInvest Innovation Fund( CAIF) a Pan-Africa Pan-African Venture Fund looking to invest in promising early to growth-stage startups.
FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and Algebra the Egyptian venture capital firm have signed a US $10 million commitment for the fund manager’s second fund.
More Private Debt :
d.light, a pioneering manufacturer and provider of clean-energy products, today announced a $50 million investment from a consortium of lenders with a focus on the renewable energy space including SunFunder (Mirova SunFunder since June 2022) and TDB (Trade and Development Bank) as Co-arrangers and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank.
Venture Capital Deals
Bizao, a Pan-Africa payment solution provider has raised US$8.2 million in series A funding. The funding round led by AfricInvest, Adelie, and Seedstars Africa Ventures would be used to accelerate Bizao’s growth across the continent.
Cassava Technologies (Cassava), an integrated tech company has secured a US$50 million investment from C5 Capital (C5), a specialist venture capital firm that invests in cyber security, space, and energy security.
Bloom the Sudanese fintech has secured US$6.5 million from a pool of foreign investors making the highest financial package ever received by a Sudanese tech firm.
Economy
Nigeria’s central bank raised its interest rate to 14% to tackle the growing inflation.
South Africa’s inflation jumped to 7.4 % which is a 13- year high.