UK Government Recognizes P4G Partnership Energise Africa for its Impact Ahead of COP26

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P4G Contact: Sangeetha Sarma, Head of Communications, sangeetha.sarma@p4gpartnerships.org

Washington DC – The United Kingdom Government commended P4G partnership Energise Africa for its considerable impact helping everyday investors tackle climate change and support clean energy projects in Africa.

Since its launch in 2017, the crowdfunding platform’s projects have helped 452,000 people across Africa replace kerosene with clean solar electricity in their homes, helping reduce CO2 emissions annually by 100,000 tons. The partnership works across 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa including P4G country partner Kenya with the goal of expanding to Ethiopia and South Africa.

So far more than USD $19 million has been invested through the platform, including more than USD $14.5 million through crowdfunding. P4G provided funding and acceleration support to Energise Africa by connecting it with key stakeholders to help the partnership achieves its goals. UK aid has provided match funding in 70% of projects to encourage UK investors to join the campaign.

Julie Green, an Energise Africa investor from Glasgow, commented, “I like investing with Energise Africa because it tells a community, or even an individual family, that I want to help them build a sustainable future in their home. It isn’t about investment from ‘here’ to ‘there’, it’s recognising that by investing in green energy in one place I’m trying to create a globally sustainable future for us all. As far as I’m concerned, that’s money well spent.”

The platform uses investors’ money to buy solar power systems such as roof panels, which are then sold to households and businesses in Africa. Instead of buying kerosene, these customers save money by making affordable monthly payments until they own the solar power systems outright.

Pamela Adhiambo is a healthcare worker from Siaya in Kenya and has solar power at home, installed by Azuri, a firm backed by the platform. She said, “Before I had electricity at home, I couldn’t spend as much time treating patients as I had to get home before dark to compile reports. Now I have solar power, I can spend more time helping people during the day and write reports in the evening.”

The success of Energise Africa in harnessing the demand from investors to find environmentally friendly ways to invest comes ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) due to be held in Glasgow in November. It also shows a model through which everyday citizens can take action to mitigate climate change and help countries meet their Sustainable Development Goals.

“Public-private partnerships like Energise Africa not only help mitigate climate change, but also inject economic momentum in countries across Africa. P4G’s extensive and supportive network and UK aid’s support have allowed us to meet and increase our ambitious goals, which will ultimately result in a cleaner more inclusive planet for all,” said Lisa Ashford, founder & CEO of Energise Africa.  

“Energise Africa was in the very first round of P4G’s 2018 partnerships and its remarkable impact shows that public-private partnerships are one of the most effective ways to meet the SDGs and deliver on climate change ambitions,” says Robyn McGuckin, Head of Partnerships, P4G. “P4G is well-positioned to continue supporting partnerships like Energise Africa and others in our network make the connections they need to tackle climate change and achieve goals that increase the social and economic benefits for millions of people.”  

The 2020 P4G Seoul Summit from June 28 – 30 will be a global stepping-stone on the road to COP26. At the Summit, heads of state, CEOs and civil society leaders can support the acceleration of P4G partnerships implementing transformative models of change to help tackle climate change and meet the SDGs.

Energise Africa Investment Note: Capital is at risk and returns are not guaranteed. These are fixed-term bonds and are not readily realizable. Investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

About P4G

P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 – is funding over 30 public-private partnerships with projects in developing countries. P4G is a collaborative partnership among 12 partner countries: Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and Vietnam. P4G is funded by the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands and hosted at World Resources Institute. Other partner organizations include C40 Cities, Global Green Growth Institute, International Finance Corporation, World Economic Forum and the United Nations Global Compact.