- The Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), funded by the UK Government’s International Climate Finance, is hosting a new training and networking event for renewable energy developers in Africa.
- The event has attracted some leading investors eager to find new funding opportunities.
The two-week REPP Academy 2020, which starts today, is being hosted virtually by REPP’s investment manager, Camco Clean Energy. During the event a series of networking sessions will be held to connect investors with on-grid developers operating in countries in Africa. GET.invest and IRENA are also taking part.
Nine investors, including AfDB and Finnfund, have signed up to the online event to explore investment opportunities with experienced developers in the clean energy IPP market in Africa, as well as its rising stars. GET.invest and IRENA are also taking part, representing platforms that are focused on matchmaking between developers and funders and technical assistance providers.
The sessions are part of REPP Academy 2020, a two-week capacity building and networking programme being run by REPP’s investment manager Camco Clean Energy (Camco), which starts today.
Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director of Camco, said: “Africa’s renewable energy sector represents a huge potential market for investors, but despite a definite upsurge in investments the current rate of activity falls a long way short of what is needed if we are to meet global climate and energy access goals. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to make the situation worse, with many investors slowing down their activities.
“That’s why we’ve set up these networking and open dialogue opportunities: to bring these amazing projects and developers to the attention of the investment world and help accelerate the funding flow into the sector.
“That so many leading investors have signed up to these sessions speaks volumes in terms of how they see the sector. They clearly acknowledge the resilience of the market and agree with Camco/REPP’s position that we need to accelerate rather than slow down.”
Tuomas Suurpää, Senior Investment Manager at Finnfund, said: “Finnfund is committed to investing in businesses which mitigate climate change and help people in developing countries adapt to it.
“Renewable energy is one of our key sectors and thanks to our development-oriented mandate and our capacity to absorb risk, we and other DFIs are well positioned to invest in healthy businesses, even when the risks are on the rise.”
REPP Academy 2020 is a capacity-building event designed to help REPP’s on-grid investees successfully advance their projects and deliver clean power across countries in Africa. As well as the networking sessions with investors, investees will take part in a mix of short presentations, group discussions, and one-on-one meetings with peers and members of the REPP team.
Franz Kottulinsky, Director of REPP investee company Rift Valley Energy Group, said: “Having worked with REPP successfully on the financing for our 2.4MW wind project, we are very excited to be part of this year’s REPP Academy. This will provide us not only with relevant training but also with an interesting business network, which we can use to explore further financing options for our new 4MW hydro and rural electrification project in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.”
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
