AFRICA: KLP Norfund invests $40m in green energy for business

The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND) is launching a special purpose vehicle with pension fund manager KPL for a $40 million investment in CrossBoundary Energy (CBE). The company finances and installs clean energy systems for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers.

CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) is opening its capital to a new shareholder. This is KLP NORFUND Investments AS, a joint venture between the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND) and the Norwegian pension fund manager KPL. The two investors are injecting USD 40 million into CBE to support the expansion of its activities.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the Nairobi, Kenya-based company finances, installs and leases clean energy plants to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. CBE has a solar, wind and storage portfolio worth $188 million. This portfolio includes 50 MWp of PV assets, 50 MWh of battery storage assets and 12 MW of wind assets serving large C&I customers.

These include British brewer Diageo in Nigeria, Dutch-British multinational food company Unilever in Kenya, Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto in Madagascar, Dutch brewer Heineken in Nigeria and Canadian mining company NextSource Materials in Madagascar. In all, CBE supplies clean energy to companies in 14 countries in Africa.

“We are looking forward to leveraging Norfund’s considerable experience as we seek to build an operational portfolio of more than $300 million in assets over the next five years,” says Pieter Joubert, president and chief investment officer of CrossBoundary Energy. The investment by Norfund and KLP is in addition to the $40 million injected into CBE in 2020 by ARCH Emerging Markets’ Africa Renewable Power Fund.

 Jean Marie Takouleu  | https://www.afrik21.africa