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AfrElec OFF- GRID AfrElec

Bamboo Capital Partners to manage $40mn

World Bank-led investment in Madagascar

MADAGASCAR BAMBOO Capital Partners, an impact investing particularly acute in Madagascar, where access
platform, is to act as international fund manager to electricity is a challenge for the large major-
for Madagascar’s World Bank-led Off-Grid Mar- ity of households, especially those in rural areas
ket Development Fund (OMDF), which aims to of the country,” says Jean-Philippe de Schrevel,
invest $40mn in the country. founder and managing partner of Bamboo Cap-
The Fund will offer both a results-based ital Partners.
financing (RBF) facility and a credit line for off- “OMDF builds on our decade of experience
grid solar companies and financial institutions investing in the renewable energy sector and we
active in the off-grid solar sector. are looking forward to collaborating with the
RBF grants support off-grid solar distributors Government of Madagascar, the World Bank and
in developing their operations in Madagascar. Société Générale Madagascar to provide clean,
The grants subsidise companies that offer qual- reliable and decentralised sources of energy to
ity products and services, with additional incen- the underserved Malagasy population.”
tives for those offering end-customer financing In 2020, it is estimated that less than a quarter
solutions via pay-as-you-go models or through of the Malagasy population have access to elec-
MFIs. tricity. Rural areas of the country are unequally
This facility will also help new market partic- electrified, with electrification rates around 5%.
ipants overcome entry barriers through a partial Madagascar offers a potential customer base
prepayment of the RBF grant. of 2.5 to 5mn households for solar lamps and
OMDF’s credit offering specifically finances market entry solar home systems. The Fund will
working capital, stock building of quality prod- target companies that provide Malagasy house-
ucts and end-consumer financing. It will also holds with quality products that are Lighting
contribute to creating credit history in Mada- Global/VeraSol certified.
gascar to attract further private sector financing. The Fund was initiated by the Government of
OMDF was established in April and is launch- Madagascar, with funding from the World Bank.
ing its financing operations with a first window Bamboo’s partnership with Société Générale
for accepting grant proposals for RBF from 28 Madagascar combines the local market knowl-
October to 8 December, 2020. edge of Société Générale Madagascar with Bam-
In parallel, OMDF will also provide debt boo’s deep expertise of managing international
financing to solar distributors and financial funds that invest in clean energy access solutions.
institutions that finance end-customers or solar Zdenek Metelak, CEO of Société Générale
distributors in Madagascar. Madagasikara, added: “Société Générale Mada-
Société Générale Madagasikara has been gasikara and the entire Société Générale Group
appointed to host the OMDF funds and provide are extremely honoured to contribute to this
the financing. initiative. This large-scale project is perfectly in
OMDF aims to improve electricity access for line with our commitment to the development
households and SMEs in Madagascar through of renewable energy, which is part of the Société
off-grid solar energy solutions. Générale Group’s Grow with Africa programme.
“Energy access remains a critical global chal- We are thus committed to energy operators who
lenge, with 800mn people without access to a support renewable energy projects and energy
reliable source of electricity. This problem is inclusion of populations.”™

Week 46 19•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5