DRC: despite the conflicts in the east, Miga guarantees $50m for Nuru’s mini-grids
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is issuing a $50.3 million guarantee to Congo Energy Solutions (Nuru). In the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the company is installing metropolitan electricity grids powered by hybrid solar energy.
After the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it is now the turn of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to support Congo Energy Solutions (Nuru). The subsidiary of the World Bank Group has granted a $50.3 million guarantee to this electricity access provider based in Goma in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The guarantee supports Nuru’s construction of electricity networks in the towns of Goma, Kindu and Bunia. The aim is to deploy an installed capacity of 15 MW to electrify the population and businesses. Bunia is expected to be home to the largest metropolitan network in this portfolio, financed by a $40m Series B financing round. The IFC and Proparco, a subsidiary of French Development Agency (AFD), participated in this financing.
A guarantee against the risks of conflict
This portfolio of solar-powered metropolitan electricity grids is also being financed with the support of the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), E3 Capital and the GAIA Impact Fund. French renewable energy producer Voltalia also invested in Nuru in the recent Series B. The same goes for the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Joseph Family Foundation.
This unprecedented mobilisation should enable Nuru to supply electricity to 28,000 households and businesses in the east of the DRC, a region that remains unstable, not least because of the M23 rebellion, even if the company’s directors play down the risks to the electricity access infrastructure.
Be that as it may, MIGA’s guarantees will help to mitigate the risks incurred by investors in a fragile DRC affected by conflict. “The partial coverage of expropriation by MIGA is one of the innovative aspects of the project. Each mini-network is covered separately from the point of view of expropriation”, says the World Bank Group agency.
