The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on December 15 approved an investment of US $20 million in support to the Evolution II Fund, a Pan-African clean and sustainable energy private equity fund.
The approval is part of the development finance institution’s wider mandate under the New Deal on Energy for Africa and that its proposed participation in the Fund is a demonstration of the Bank’s commitment to promote renewable energy and efficiency in Africa.
A news release sourced by BRTNews.ng on the AfDB’s website disclosed that the Bank’s investment in Evolution II Fund reflected its High 5 development priorities and in particular, the agenda to Light up and Power Africa.
The news report clarified: “The Evolution II Fund will invest an estimated US $250 million in various renewable energy and resource-efficiency assets across sub-Saharan Africa over a period of 10 years.
“The fund manager, Inspired Evolution Investment Management, brings experience and knowledge to the project from its previous fund − which focused on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and delivered 12 renewable energy projects with a total generation capacity of 925 megawatts (MW). “In partnership with the African Development Bank and other investors, Evolution II will provide growth capital and infrastructure equity to support low-cost, low-carbon, small-to-medium-sized, clean and sustainable energy generation capacity.
“Evolution II Fund is expected to contribute to green and sustainable growth by creating 2,750 jobs and building on the track record of the Evolution One Fund (which created 1,495 jobs, of which 20% were women, and generated 838 MW of wind energy and 87MW Solar PV energy). The Evolution One Fund achieved 1,190,469 of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission savings annually.”, the news release added.
The President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said that “the Bank is delighted to support a private equity fund that is focused on promoting renewable energy in Africa. We are confident it will contribute to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) of the Bank’s member countries as well as the COP21 commitments.”
Similarly, the AfDB’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Complex, Amadou Hott, emphasized the Bank’s high commitment to boosting its portfolio of renewable energy projects and encouraging private investment in renewable and efficient energy solutions.
Hott disclosed that the share of renewable energy projects as a portion of the Bank’s portfolio of power generation investments rose from 14% in 2007-2011 to 64% in 2012-2016.
In 2017 alone, the Bank approved power generation projects for a cumulative 1 400 megawatts exclusively from renewables and plans to increase its support to renewable energy projects under the New Deal on Energy for Africa.
