By Nasi Hako
InfraCo Africa, the African development arm of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), announced a $43 million anchor investment into Climate, Energy Access and Resilience (CLEAR).
The climate-focused fund is advised by Helios Investment Partners (Helios). The design of the CLEAR Fund was refined and realised by PIDG and InfraCo Africa through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s ‘MOBILIST’ Sustainable Infrastructure Competition. MOBILIST supports investment solutions looking to list on global or local stock exchanges that help emerging and frontier markets spur progress towards UN Global Goals and deliver the climate transition.
During the COP26 summit held in November 2021, the UK government renewed their commitment to PIDG and announced its support for the CLEAR Fund and its intention to list its assets on a major stock exchange in due course, through the MOBILIST programme.
This announcement follows on from this commitment to address the growing demand from domestic and international investors for sustainable investment opportunities across Africa. Drawing on PIDG and Helios’ distinctive blend of private sector development and investment expertise and track record of delivering impact in Africa, CLEAR will fund climate-aligned assets and growth opportunities whilst also contributing towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
InfraCo Africa’s CEO, Gilles Vaes highlighted the strength of the partnership, saying: “The result of this collaboration is an innovative fund which addresses today’s global challenges around climate change and the need for transparent, sustainable investment opportunities. CLEAR also offers a new opportunity for African infrastructure developers, such as ourselves, to either sell down equity and recycle development funding or secure a credible partner to support future growth. CLEAR provides a missing piece of the puzzle and one which will be critically important if we are to accelerate action on climate change whilst also closing the infrastructure gap in Africa.”
CLEAR Chair, Diana Fox Carney, commented saying: “The race is on to identify solutions that will help us meet the enormous climate challenge that we face – including adapting to a changing climate. Working at the interface of the public and private sectors, the CLEAR Fund will play a key role in mobilising capital for Africa’s low-carbon development pathway. Many low-carbon technologies have now reached a level of maturity that makes them not just cleaner, but also cheaper and more reliable than the traditional alternatives. This is a win for Africa, a win for investors, and a win for the world.”
CLEAR Co-Head, Tavraj Banga, elaborated by saying: “We will focus on investments that enable emissions to be decoupled from economic growth, while helping build adaptive capacity to allow the population to cope with the risks of climate change – improving the health and lives of Africans.”
Source: ESI Africa
