Page 11 - AfrElec Week 03

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
with France, Germany and the Hewlett and Grantham charitable foundations, it said in a statement.
The funding will go toward a first-loss tranche that will absorb any initial losses, a safety net for other institutional investors that BlackRock expects to help it raise at least another $40mn.
The CFP fund will be invested in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage solutions and ultra-low and electric transport. At least a quarter of the investments would
be made in Africa, with the rest in selected countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America, BlackRock said.
The venture is part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the way BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, is responding to the issue of climate change, as part of a broader commitment to environmental, social and governance-related investing.
France and Germany will both invest $30mn of the initial funding, while the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust have pledged $10mn and $7.5mn, respectively.
The CFP members have pledged to help raise the additional seed capital for the fund. BlackRock will also provide an as yet undetermined amount.
INVESTMENT
AfDB, UK’s DFID unveil
$80m reveal financing for
Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB)
has unveiled a new $80mn infrastructure financing partnership with DFID, the United Kingdom’s development agency.
The deal was reached during the opening ceremony for the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit, which was attended by dignitaries
and delegates from 16 African countries. AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said
the continent’s $68-$108bn infrastructure investment gap per year was massive, but also depends on how you look at it.
“It’s either the cup is half-full or half empty. To us, that is a $68-$108bn opportunity. The issue of risk in Africa is exaggerated.
The risk of loss is lower than Latin America. Yet, funds are not being channelled into Africa. There are $8 trillion of assets under management in London, but only one per cent is invested in Africa,” he said.
He urged investors to look to Africa and recalled the achievements of the Africa Investment Forum – a game-changing initiative led by the African Development Bank and key partners, to accelerate investment in the continent.
UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Alok Sharma, expressed confidence in the continent, saying: “Africa has a fabulous future.”
Sharma announced five partnerships to mobilise private sector investment in quality infrastructure on the continent.
“The City of London can play a role in mobilising resources for Africa,” Sharma said.
POWER CUTS
Power cuts cost South Africa up to $8.3bn
Power cuts by state utility Eskom cost the South African economy up to ZAR120bn ($8.3bn) in 2019 and will probably persist for the next two to three years, research by the country’s national science council showed.
The power cuts are one of the biggest challenges facing President Cyril Ramaphosa as he tries to revive investor confidence in Africa’s most industrialised economy, Reuters reported.
Ramaphosa has promised to break up Eskom to make it more efficient and granted
it a series of mammoth bailouts to stabilise its finances, but its coal-fired power plants keep breaking down after years of mismanagement.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) urged the government to move swiftly to ease regulations governing “self-generation” of electricity by companies and households as a way to minimise power cuts in 2020.
Other government initiatives, such as giving independent power producers the go-ahead to build new plants, could only help reduce the scale of power cuts from 2021 if procurement processes are expedited or from 2022 under normal circumstances, the CSIR research showed.
Ramaphosa promised in a speech to business leaders this month that he would embrace efforts by businesses and households to generate their own electricity, but his government is yet to follow through with the necessary regulatory reforms.
The CSIR said the government should publish determinations to procure more power as soon as the first quarter of this year and talk to existing renewable energy producers about squeezing more electricity from their plants.
GRID
Nigeria experiences first power cuts of 2020
The Nigerian national grid experienced its first collapse for 2020 on January 16, leading to blackouts across the country.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the incident in a statement on its Twitter page reporting a “system disturbance” which occurred at about 12.34 pm local time affecting some parts of the country.
Later on the same day, at 1:10 pm, TCN noted that “supply was restored to Abuja and most parts of the affected areas”, ensuring that the company is currently working to completely restore and stabilise the nation’s grid.
Ikeja Electric, Nigeria’s largest distribution network also confirmed the grid’s collapse in a statement on its Twitter account and reported a subsequent blackout, which occurred at 2.15 pm after the previous incident.
The Nigerian national grid experienced its first collapse for 2020 on Thursday, 16 January, leading to blackouts across the country.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria
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