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African Renewable Energy Fund receives $20m equity funding from IFC

African Renewable Energy Fund receives $20m equity funding from IFC Project site for the Corbetti Geothermal project, Ethiopia (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 13 Dec 2017

IFC is providing $20 million in equity funding to the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) managed by Berkeley Energy, replacing an investor that stepped out. AREF is invested in the Corbetti geothermal project in Ethiopia.

Investment firm Berkeley Energy will receive Sh2 billion ($20 million) in equity funding from IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.

The funding is for the $200 million Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), which invests in viable wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and solar projects.

The fund is invested in the Corbetti geothermal project in Ethiopia, which is currently in final negotiations on a power purchase agreement.

“The AREF transaction is anticipated to have project-level impacts in the form of improved services offered to customers and environmental impacts that make a contribution to green industries,” the IFC says in its disclosures.

IFC did not specify the stake it would hold in the Fund. Eddy Njoroge, a former managing director of power producer KenGen , serves as a member of Berkeley Kenya’s investment committee.

“The impending funding by the IFC will replace an investor who has decided to exit the Fund,” Luka Buljan, AREF investment director in Nairobi, told the Business Daily in an interview.

Source: Business Daily Africa