SolarX Africa Closes Funding from Energy Access Ventures
SolarX Africa Closes Funding from Energy Access Ventures
Nairobi, 20 May 2021 – SolarX Africa, a Malian based solar company, is pleased to announce the closing of additional funding from Energy Access Ventures (EAV), an early-stage fund investing in decentralized energy companies across sub-Saharan Africa. The company develops, finances, and offers operations and maintenance services to solar assets, focusing on commercial and industrial clients through a leasing model.
Further to EAV’s initial investment in SolarX Africa (July 2020), this tranche of funding brings to completion the company’s Series A round. The transaction is a testament to EAV’s firm belief in the market viability of the region and in the company’s agility, proven by their successful execution despite recent market challenges. SolarX Africa will utilize this new equity and quasi-equity funding to finance the pipeline of commercial and industrial clients in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Karim Ghammache, Founder CEO of SolarX Africa, said; “We are pleased to have unlocked further funding from EAV following successful completion of our initial projects and achievement of key milestones. These funds will be used to execute on signed projects and to expand our position as a key player in West Africa’s commercial and industrial space. We hope this investment demonstrates the need for more capital inflow into the region to match the growing demand for reliable and clean energy solutions from leading businesses.”
Vladimir Dugin, Partner at EAV, said: “As early-stage investors, we are keen to support teams and solutions that are fit for the market, especially in frontier geographies. We are proud to see the company hit their milestones and deliver on the initial pipeline despite the COVID-19 crisis and other macro challenges. We view our new investment as a major milestone for SolarX Africa and as a critical steppingstone to facilitating their expansion plan in the region.”
Johann Choux, Head of Equity Investments – Financial Institutions & VC at Proparco, said: “The provision of affordable, clean energy is of the utmost importance, now more than ever, particularly in frontier markets in Africa. With FISEA (the Investment and Support Fund for Businesses in Africa), we support innovative investors like EAV that play a key role in providing early-stage capital, a network, and hands-on assistance to companies like SolarX. This investment is essential not only from a climate standpoint but also to ensure wider economic and political sustainability, as SolarX clients support the day-to-day well-being and livelihoods of local and regional residents. More importantly, EAV’s investment in SolarX Africa underscores the Fund’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and will directly contribute to SDG 7: access to energy.”
About SolarX Africa
SolarX Africa is a renewable energy company providing reliable, clean and affordable energy solutions to commercial and industrial clients in West Africa. As a one-stop-shop, the company provides easy access to financing for energy and energy efficiency solutions, whilst allowing its clients to focus on their core business and power this through environmentally friendly and cost-efficient energy sources.
The company was founded by Omnium’s management team, which acutely experienced energy-related pain points during their 20 years of manufacturing in Mali. This opened their eyes to the need for cheaper, reliable and efficient energy sources. Please visit: www.solarx-africa.com
About Energy Access Ventures
Energy Access Ventures (EAV) is a leading early-stage investment fund in Africa. EAV is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the emerging smart, distributed, cost-effective infrastructure market segment. EAV has carved out a reputation as a hands-on investor that works closely with its portfolio companies to capture the significant opportunity in Africa. EAV’s first fund was raised in February 2015 and is €75,000,000 in size with 9 investment professionals. The fund is sponsored by the leading French multinational Schneider Electric and is managed by Aster Capital in Paris. Its investors are CDC Group (UK), managing funds for the UK Department for International Development, the European Investment Bank, the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA) held by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and managed by Proparco, the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), administered by AFD, Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), the Netherlands Development Finance Company the OPEC. For more information: please visit www.eavafrica.com.
About Proparco
Proparco has been supporting sustainable development for 40 years across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. As the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Proparco provides funding and support to companies and financial institutions and helps them control the impacts of their activity. In 2019, Proparco committed €2.5bn of financing, focused on key development sectors: infrastructure, especially renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, healthcare and education. Its interventions support private sector actors who contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services, and who contribute to poverty reduction and the fight against climate change. Africa is Proparco’s first region of intervention, with € 1.285m granted in 2019, representing 51% of its commitments. For more information, please visit: www.proparco.fr/en and @Proparco