Fund commits €10m for clean energy in southern Africa

Jan 27, 2010 - Renewable Energy Focus

The Global Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) will commit the funds to the ‘Evolution One Fund’ that is dedicated to clean energy investment in Southern Africa.

The fund will target power generation from renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency as well as sustainable water purification, waste management and recycling. The focus will be on micro-enterprises, small, medium and broad-based economic empowerment.

“We are particularly pleased that GEEREF’s second investment reaches the African continent,” saysCyrille Arnould of GEEREF. “It will support South Africa’s efforts to move away from fossil energy and set a precedent for others to follow.”

Evolution One Fund is a private equity fund managed by Inspired Evolution Investment Management of South Africa, and focusses on clean technologies where environmental and social issues make them “vitally important drivers of economic development,” it explains.

GEEREF is supported by the European Union, Germany and Norway, and advised by the European Investment Bank Group (European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund) to provide clean energy to emerging countries and economies in transition. It is joined by market investors CBG/Castleway Properties, International Finance Corporation (IFC), African Development Bank (AfDB), Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), Norfund, Swiss Investment fund for Emerging Markets (Sifem) and the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund).

In December, GEEREF announced its €12.5m commitment to Berkeley Energy’s Renewable Energy Asia Fund, which focuses on India. The ‘fund of funds’ provides global risk capital through private investment for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, and accelerates the transfer, development, use and enforcement of environmentally-sound technologies for poor regions.

Inspired Evolution Investment Management is a boutique investment management company based in South Africa and Britain, with experience in cleantech market segments such as solar, wind, fuel cells, biogas, biofuels, energy efficiency, waste and water investments.