News Update: East Africa's largest e-motorcycle plant, e-buses for Rwanda, direct air capture facility in Kenya and more
Industry and investment news
Hi Exseeders,
welcome to our update on industry and investment news in Sub-Saharan African economies. Our focus? All things related to the 9 priority areas identified by the African Union to combat climate change.
😍 News we love:
Acre Impact Capital secured US$40mn from the EIB for its inaugural fund, bolstering liquidity in Africa’s climate infrastructure sector.
UNDP aims to enhance transparency on credit rating methodologies in Africa, reducing borrowing costs and enabling access to the required $200 billion annually for achieving SDGs. Closing the data gap will help complete the risk assessment.
Arab-Africa Trade Bridges announces a $1.5bn investment to enhance food security through financing, capacity building, and technical assistance.
👎 Why we need to keep pushing:
According to an IMF report, a USD surge could negatively impact African economies. A 10% increase in the dollar led to a 1.9% reduction in economic production in Africa.
In 2022, Africa received less than 5% of renewable energy investments despite record investments in large developing nations.
Private capital is vital for SME growth in Africa. Despite SMEs representing 98% of businesses and employing 50 to 60% of the workforce in South Africa, they only accounted for 25% of business loans in 2020.
What's worth knowing in:
🥑 Agriculture/ Food systems:
Ghana: Famers have doubled cocoa yields through sustainable practices reducing carbon emissions while boosting cocoa production at the same time. The reductions are incentivized via the $4.8 mn Carbon Emission Fund from the World Bank.
State of agriculture: Summary article of agricultural sector’s current state, short- and long-term solutions on the continent.
🌳 Ecosystems
Rwanda: To store carbon, Rwanda is planting 30 - 40 million tree seedlings every year, of which 40% must be native species to access the carbon market. The carbon market framework for Rwanda is expected to be approved in the coming months.
💡 Energy and infrastructure
South Africa: The Western Cape region in South Africa has announced investments exceeding 300 million EUR to establish an ecosystem that fosters private sector participation in renewable electricity generation.
New IEA report: Over 1 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa still depend on fire or polluting cooking fuels, presenting a huge opportunity to prevent premature deaths and reduce emissions by promoting clean cooking solutions.
South Africa: PNE Group and SET Select Energy GmbH signed memorandum of understanding for new e-fuels plant with production capacity of 500,000t per year. The plant would be powered by wind and solar, water stems from a desalination plant.
🚕 Mobility and transport systems
Kenya: Roam opened East Africa’s largest electric motorcycle assembly plant. The 10,000 sqm facility has a planned production capacity of 50 000 vehicles per year.
Rwanda: BasiGo and AC Mobility to pilot electric buses in public transport system in Kigali with pay-as-you-drive model.
🏭 Industrialisation
Minerals export: Several African nations (e.g., DRC, Nigeria, Namibia) are restricting exports of critical minerals used in renewable energy technologies in an effort to drive industrialisation (beyond mining) on the continent.
Kenya: Octavia Carbon and Cella Mineral Storage announced Africa’s first direct air capture and storage plant. Powered by geothermal renewable energy, the plant will capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it underground
💧 Water systems
Solar Energy Desalination: Desalination technology set to expand. Solar-powered, small-scale systems promising for rural areas.
💻 Digital transformation
East Africa: New drought prediction model with up to 8 months lead time for East Africa promises to help mitigate food shortages through better planning.
Do you have feedback for us? Hit reply and please let us know! We’d love to hear from you!
Best,
Carolin
for the Exseede Team