Proparco, Swedfund and STOA have invested $80m in Serengeti Energy, a Sub-Saharan hydro and solar-specialized independent power producer which develops, constructs, owns and operates grid-connected renewable energy resources in a region that is currently heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

Proparco has invested $25m, Swedfund - $20m and STOA - $35m respectively.

Damien Braud, Head of Private Equity for Africa and the Middle East at Proparco, said: “By investing in Serengeti Energy, Proparco is strengthening its already existing renewable energy portfolio with small-scale hydro and solar power in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

“It is also an opportunity for Proparco to contribute to sustainable economic development, including climate change mitigation, by supporting access to reliable and affordable renewable energy. With this project, Proparco supports the strengthening of Serengeti Energy’s Environmental, Social and Governance processes within climate, biodiversity and gender,” he said.

Sub-Saharan Africa still depends heavily on fossil fuel based generation, which makes it crucial that investments in renewable generation keeps on increasing, adding environmentally and socially sustainable and cost-efficient capacity to the grid.

Most countries in the region have an installed generation capacity with insufficient renewable base-load feature, underpinning the need to invest further in renewable energy sources.

In addition, a combination of favorable conditions, such as Africa being a continent with high hydro and solar resources unexploited to this day, is driving the build-out of renewable energy capacity.

The investment is expected to increase the production of renewable energy, contribute to increasing energy access and promote sustainable economic development.

Serengeti Energy is well-known within the Development Finance Institution group with previous equity raised from the German Development Bank, KfW, the Norwegian Development Finance Institution, Norfund and the Nordic Development Fund, NDF.

Founded in 2013, Nairobi-based team established itself as a qualified small-to-medium-size project developer through the constitution of a diversified portfolio of seven operating assets spread around South Africa, Uganda and Rwanda, which will be complemented in the near term by two additional assets currently under construction in Malawi plus Sierra Leone, to total 70+MW capacity.

"By investing in Serengeti Energy, we are strengthening our already existing renewable energy portfolio with small- and medium-scale hydro and solar power in Sub-Saharan Africa," said Maria Håkansson CEO at Swedfund.