Harith General Partners has invested in NOVO Energy, a power and technology company that specialises in supplying alternative fuel technologies and services in Africa.

The South African based fund manager has purchased a significant shareholding at NOVO Energy through its $435m second Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF2).

The partnership was established to create a strategic alignment and focus on the supply of natural gas in the Southern African energy mix.

Harith and NOVO, share a common vision to offer cleaner and more affordable industrial and transportation fuel to the Southern African market.

With more than 100 years of cumulative experience in the alternative fuels market,

NOVO has positioned itself as a notable competitor.

The integrated gas company, has established long-standing partnerships with leading international technology suppliers to design, implement, operate and maintain fuel solutions using natural gas.

NOVO also specialises in the establishment, ownership and operation of gas infrastructure such as gas compression stations, dispensing stations for vehicles and pipelines for the supply of gas to customers.

Tshepo Mahloele, Harith CEO, said that it is widely accepted that natural gas will play a significant role in the energy mix and economies of a number of African countries in the foreseeable future.

“The NOVO offering and expertise allows for current and future gas sources to be linked with existing and growing markets on the African continent. In addition to the environmental benefits of natural gas, the availability of gas also creates substantial socio-economic development opportunities through job creation and increased sustainability of the sectors it serves,” he said.

Mahloele added that Harith firmly believes that this new partnership will lead to the accelerated roll-out of infrastructure required to link gas supplies and gas markets in Africa to the benefit of its people.

As a founding member of President Barack Obama’s Power Africa Initiative, which is directed at sourcing and resolving energy problems that strongly limit the economic growth in Africa,

Harith is of the view that NOVO will also play an active role in contributing to the broader measures that address the supply of energy on the continent.

Andri Hugo, CEO of NOVO Energy, said: “The Harith / NOVO partnership is significant in the sense that it would support the Southern African Government aspirations to develop a gas economy as outline in the soon-to-be expected Gas Utilisation Master Plan.”

"The IPP office has indicated similar aspirations to support the establishment of power producers using gas. In our opinion, gas would furthermore be a major role player in the National Development Plan where the combination of natural gas and our abundant resources could result in significant socio-economic benefits to the country. Harith’s development aspirations would be perfectly complimented by NOVO’s extensive experience in the natural gas industry,” he said.