Access Infra Africa, a pan-African developer, owner and operator of power assets, has signed a joint development agreement with Quaint Global Energy Solutions to invest in the $100m ABIBA Solar Project, a 50 MW solar power plant being developed in Kaduna state.

According to Reda El Chaar, Executive Chairman, Access will invest 70% of the equity, equivalent to around $20m via the Access Co-development Facility (ACF), a facility aimed at providing technical and financial support to bring projects towards financial close.

ACF is an Africa-focused platform designed to bridge the gap between early-stage renewable energy projects and the resources they require to become operational.

ACF was launched earlier this year and attracted 55 competitive entries from 18 countries.

Quaint from Nigeria and Flatbush Solar from Cameroon were declared the winners of the inaugural edition of this competition at the Africa Energy Forum in June 2015.

Once completed ABIBA Solar Project will generate 82,500 megawatt hours of clean electricity, enough to satisfy the daytime requirement of over 600,000 Nigerian households.

When asked about Cameroon’s Flatbush Solar, El Chaar said: “That project depends on some country-level factors which are currently being worked on. We will provide an announcement on this project at a later date.”

El Chaar stressed that Africa’s power sector and wider economy could be transformed by the billions of dollars of financing available for Africa.

“This funding cannot have an impact without well-resourced and experienced developers willing to take early-stage project risk and turn good concepts into bankable projects. As such, investment into the early stage development of projects forms the cornerstone for the realization of the African growth opportunity,” he told Africa Global Funds.

“Access Infra Africa designed the ACF to serve as a unique platform to bridge the gap between local project developers and originators, and the experience and funding required to bring such projects to fruition,” he said.

“To achieve its objectives, Access Infra Africa through the ACF is forming several development partnerships with select developers and originators, and co-developing the projects to bring them to financial close. Following this, Access Infra Africa and its partners will continue to own and operate the assets,” he added.

The 2016 edition will be launched on February 18, 2016 in Amsterdam leading up to the final round of selection at the Africa Energy Forum in June 2016 in London.

“The amount will be at least as large as the 2015 edition ($5m), possibly larger,” said El Chaar.