Energise Africa and Kenyan National Platform Discuss Opportunities to Deliver Greater Impact

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On February 15, P4G Partnership Energise Africa met with the Renewable Energy Working Group at Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) to discuss areas of collaboration with the association’s members and network. KEPSA is the co-chair of the P4G National Platform in Kenya. The meeting between Energise Africa and KEPSA’s Renewable Energy Working Group provided an opportunity for the partnership to identify more solar and renewable energy businesses in Kenya that need capital for growth and to raise awareness of crowdfunding for working capital. Different sector participants reflected on the diversified values of Energise Africa’s applications to clean energy sectors in Kenya including mini-grid and biofuels.

Facilitated by the Energy Board Chair Engineer James Mwangi, this meeting was a follow-up from P4G’s initial introduction between Energise Africa and KEPSA’s Energy and Extractives Sector Board in November 2020.

Energise Africa is an impact investing platform for everyday people which enables individuals to invest from just £50 in bonds issued by solar businesses to support clean energy projects in Africa. The platform enables solar businesses in Africa and other emerging markets to raise funds to bring clean energy to millions of households and small businesses across the sub-Saharan region. 

P4G Regional Manager Anteneh Gelaw and P4G Director of Partnerships Robyn McGuckin shared P4G’s approach of delivering concrete solutions through partnerships like Energise Africa and P4G’s role in accelerating green growth in Africa.

Energise Africa Program Manager Isona Shibata and Lendahand Senior Investment Manager Daniël van Maanen presented the benefits of raising finance through the investment platform. Clean, affordable energy is fundamental to Kenya’s Vision 2030 and to achieve this Kenya needs to overcome barriers like the high cost of grid electricity is hampering growth and low private sector investments into clean energy. Energise Africa shared its solution of providing affordable working capital to solar companies in Kenya. This improves the access to clean energy by Kenyan households and businesses while addressing the challenge of high up-front costs.

Energise Africa also shared that it could provide Kenya businesses between £500,000 - £5 million in financing with flexible lending criteria. The platform has already raised over £8 million for Kenyan businesses, improved electricity access for more than 42,000 households, and mitigated more than 46,000 tons of annual CO2 emissions.

There was a consensus among a range of stakeholders from the Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA) that the innovative approach of crowdfunding and blended finance can help address the financing gap and help mitigate the risks associated with investments.

Moving forward, Energise Africa will continue technical discussions with KEREA and further engage with individual businesses among KEREA members for solar business financing and for developing policy recommendations that would be valuable for energy access in Kenya.

Energise Africa aims to have over 300 companies raising finance on the platform by 2025, with a key focus for growth on commercial and industrial solar for productive use, supporting jobs and economic growth.

Please bear in mind that when investing via the Energise Africa platform your capital is at risk and returns are not guaranteed. Please see https://www.energiseafrica.com/risk for more information.