Page 7 - AfrElec Week 25 2021

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Africa Renewable Energy

Fund II raises €130mn

AFRICA THE Africa Renewable Energy Fund II, an Afri- Finance Company (FMO) and SwedFund.
ca-focused private equity fund, has achieved its “We are proud to be associated with Berke-
first close at €130mn, following a joint invest- ley Energy and other like-minded investors,
ment of €17.5mn from The Sustainable Energy and look forward to AREF’s continued success
Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology and leadership in promoting sustainable power
Fund through the African Development Bank development on the continent,” said Dr. Kevin
(AfDB). Kariuki, the AfDB’s Vice President for Power,
The fund is a 10-year closed-ended renewa- Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
ble energy Private Equity Fund that aims to raise In 2012, the AfDB selected Berkeley Energy, a
$300mn from private institutional investors. seasoned fund manager of clean energy projects
AREF II, which is managed by Berkeley in global emerging markets, to set up AREF.
Energy, invests in early-stage renewable energy Luka Buljan, Berkeley Energy’s manag-
projects, thereby not only de-risking the most ing director, said: “We are very excited to have
uncertain phase of power projects, but also pro- reached this milestone with strong support from
moting increased green baseload in Africa’s gen- our backers. The catalytic tranche from the Sus-
eration mix. tainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate
AREF II has a sharper strategic focus than its Technology Fund will assist in mobilising pri-
predecessor on “green baseload” projects that vate institutional investors up to full fund size
will deliver firm and dispatchable power to Afri- of €300mn. We now look forward to conclud-
can power systems through hydro, solar, wind ing the fundraising and delivering projects that
and battery storage technologies. will provide clean, reliable and affordable energy
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and across African markets.”
the Climate Technology Fund will each contrib- “AREF is intertwined with the Sustainable
ute roughly €8.7mn to mobilise private-sector Energy Fund for Africa’s history and success,
investment into Africa’s renewable energy sector. and we have worked closely over the last dec-
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa will ade to create precedents in difficult markets and
also contribute financing to the AREF II Project challenging technologies. We look forward to
Support Facility, which funds technical assis- continued collaboration to accelerate the energy
tance and early-stage project support to improve transition in Africa,” said Joao Duarte Cunha,
bankability. manager for Renewable Energy Initiatives at
Other investors include the UK’s CDC Group, the AfDB and Coordinator of the Sustainable
Italy’s CDP, the Netherlands Development Energy Fund for Africa.™

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