The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and FMO, the Dutch development bank have invested a collective €14.62 million (US$15.52 million) in Mobisol, a German pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar service company, in order to deliver renewable energy solutions to off-grid communities in East Africa.
High costs of capital and low tariffs are causing extremely tight margins for solar developers in India. PV Tech caught up with Gaetan Tiberghien, principal investment officer, South Asia for International Finance Corporation (IFC), to discuss financing in the region.
The second Solar and Off-Grid Renewables West Africa event in Ghana in April heard mixed views on the progress of solar in the region. But with the first projects reaching completion and others moving forward, brighter times seem to be around the corner. Tom Kenning reports
Zambia set a new benchmark for low-cost solar power in Africa on Monday with a competitive auction under the ‘Scaling Solar’ programme, which saw winning bids as low as 6.02 cents/kWh.
French PV company EREN Renewable Energy and developer Access Infra Africa, a subsidiary of Access Power, have begun construction of a 10MW solar PV plant in Uganda, which will be the largest project in the Eastern region of Sub-Saharan Africa once complete.
The government of Senegal plans to develop 200MW of solar power as part of the World Bank Group’s initiative ‘Scaling Solar’, which aims to assist African countries in procuring renewable energy quickly and affordably power through private investment.
Rajnesh Trivedi, senior director, sustainable investment banking at Yes Bank India, discusses how Green Bonds can alleviate the major obstacles of financing for renewables in the subcontinent.
