Page 14 - AfrElec Week 37 2021

AfrElec NEWS IN BRIEF AfrElec

average has not reached 5,000MW daily. the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) to Eskom Holdings supplies more than 90%
promote private investments that mitigate or of the nation’s electricity, the bulk of it from
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. coal, and emits more than two-fifths of the
Camusat installs clean energy and energy nation’s greenhouse gases. Andre de Ruyter,
POWER efficiency solutions for telecommunication 53, its chief executive officer, wants to tap
masts. Its investment vehicle Aktivco concessional loans from development finance
Camusat Group to lend to will leverage the credit facility to rapidly institutions to finance renewable plants in
exchange for accelerating the closure of some
finance and deploy new ESCO projects in
improve energy efficiency several African countries, including Chad, of its old, polluting power stations.
But persuading financiers to fund Eskom
Cameroon, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Ivory
at telecom towers Coast. will be a tall order, given that its debt is
already at unsustainable levels due to cost
This credit “strengthens our ability to meet
Aktivco, the investment vehicle of the the demand of telecom operators for green overruns at new plants and four straight years
Camusat Group, has signed a €60 million and efficient energy to secure their networks. of losses. The government has been talking
credit facility with several investors. Camusat I would like to personally congratulate about reorganising the utility’s balance sheet
will use the credit to generate renewable the management teams of the lenders and for years yet has failed to take a decision, and
energy and install energy efficiency solutions LHGP Asset, as well as the financial team of has instead stepped in with bailouts to enable
for telecom towers in several African the Camusat Group for their hard work in it to keep operating.
countries. making this innovative agreement possible”, Eskom’s transition to renewable energy
The Camusat Group now has the means said Richard Thomas, CEO of Camusat. The “will be difficult, if not impossible,” without a
to deploy its solutions in Africa. This asset group, which employs more than 2,600 people solution to its debt woes, according to David
manager for telecommunication energy in 50 countries, aims to provide clean energy Masondo, the nation’s deputy finance minister.
infrastructure under the ESCO (Energy and energy efficiency solutions to 10,000 He’s suggested several options, including that
Service Company) model obtains a credit ESCO sites in Africa by 2025. foreign utilities take a stake in the utility;
facility of 60 million euros via its investment that its shares be listed; or that some of
vehicle Aktivco. The credit is provided by South Africa’s sovereign debt be scrapped
the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) . in exchange for recapitalizing Eskom and
This financing facility is capitalised by the ESKOM ensuring that it reduce its emissions.
African Development Bank (AfDB) and
other development finance institutions and SA’s green energy push
managed by Lion’s Head Asset Management.
In this loan, EUR 27 million is allocated hinges on debt fix
by the EIF, and EUR 16 million by Proparco,
the subsidiary of the French Development The head of South Africa’s state power utility
Agency (AFD) group, responsible for private needs to substantially reduce its ZAR402bn of
sector financing. Norfund, the Norwegian debt to realise his vision of transforming the
government’s private equity arm, is coal-addicted behemoth into a leading green-
contributing €9 million, and €8 million from energy producer and create as many as 300
AfricaGoGreen (AGG), a fund launched by 000 jobs in the process, Bloomberg reported.

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