News Update: >3bn investments into green mining and hydrogen, e-mobility, and digitising African history
Industry and Investment News
Hi Exseeders,
Welcome to our sub-Saharan African news roundup!
Some of my personal highlights from this edition:
💰 More than $3bn of investments announced into green metal mining, hydrogen and ammonia production plants by Q Global Commodities, F9 Capital Management and Phelan Green Energy
🏍️ Ghanian startup Kofa is gearing up to deploy 200,000 electric vehicles and more than 5,000 battery swap stations across Africa by 2030
📚 Archivi.ng, a Nigerian project digitising old Nigerian newspapers to teach AI about African history, since historical African data is often not available online
Let’s dive in.
Investor news
😍 Good News:
South African Q Global Commodities is partnering with Abu Dhabi's F9 Capital Management to invest $1 billion in green metal mines, focusing on lithium, copper, and nickel deposits in southern and eastern Africa.
South African Phelan Green Energy announced a $2.5 billion investment in the construction of a green hydrogen and ammonia production plant
Green Climate Fund approves $50 million equity to REPP 2 debt fund to invest in renewable energy in sub-Sahran Africa
The IFC has provided $2.9 billion in financing to businesses in Kenya, Tanzania, and the DRC, with a focus on expanding access to finance for small businesses, boosting energy access, and promoting gender inclusion.
BluePeak Private Capital has achieved a final close of $156 million for its private capital fund to invest in scalable SMEs across Africa.
SBI Holdings Inc., a Japanese venture capital group, is planning to raise $80 million for Novastar Ventures to invest in startups in Africa.
👎 Challenges:
"Africa's startup graveyard," where once well-funded ventures are struggling or shutting down due to lack of liquidity and difficulty in raising capital.
African governments are turning to local borrowing as foreign debt markets become increasingly expensive; the yield spread between African sovereign dollar bonds and US Treasuries has widened to 852 basis points since January 2020.
The IFC emphasizes the need for a $1.5 trillion investment in the building sector of emerging markets to reduce emissions and fund greener construction projects.
Industry News
🥑 Agriculture/ Food systems:
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe is inviting bids from investors to establish a new sugar plant with a processing capacity of 10 to 50 million tons of sugar per year.
Nigeria: Platform AFEX has secured $26.5 million in funding to enable efficient commodities trading in Africa and support smallholder farmers.
A genetically modified maize variety called Tela maize, designed to withstand drought and resist pests like stem borers and fall armyworms, is gaining traction in Africa.
🌳 Ecosystems
South Africa: SpekTech, currently looking to raise $2mn in seed capital, is using e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and remote sensing technologies to advance land restoration and climate impact initiatives in Africa.
Kenya: A UAE firm signed a collaboration agreement with the Kenyan government for the development of a forestry carbon project across millions of hectares
Republic of Congo: The Republic of Congo, in collaboration with the Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC), has initiated the "ECO ZAMBA" project to engage in extensive reforestation efforts in the country.
💡 Energy and infrastructure
South Africa: The government approved the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy to ensure South Africa becomes a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen.
Djibouti: Climate Fund Managers has inaugurated Djibouti's first 60 MW wind energy facility, the Red Sea Power plant near Lake Goubet, boosting the nation's power capacity by 50%.
South Africa: Safripol inaugurated solar farm outside Sasolburg with over 15,000 solar panels ultimately generating around 20 gigawatts of energy.
Madagascar: NextSource Materials has commissioned its solar and battery hybrid power plant supplying up to 100% of the Molo graphite mine’s power requirements
Tanzania: Millennium Engineers, a Tanzanian renewable startup founded in 2016, is pioneering creative renewable energy solutions, including solar lamps and solar-powered fish drying facilities.
🚕 Mobility and transport systems
Ghana: Ghanian startup Kofa teamed up with TAILG Group to deploy 200,000 electric vehicles and more than 5,000 battery swap stations across Africa by 2030.
Ethiopia: EV floodgates open in Ethiopia after the government has exempted all EVs from VAT, surtax, and excise Tax
Nigeria: Lafarge Africa Plc, Nigerian cement manufacturer, in collaboration with Tolaram, has introduced electric trucks to its supply chain fleet.
🏭 Industrialisation
Kenya: First smartphone assembly plant set-up in Kenya producing affordable, locally assembled smartphones
Nigeria: BURN Manufacturing, a leader in clean cookstove production, is opening a new manufacturing plant in Lagos, Nigeria, with the support of a groundbreaking $10 million green bond.
Ghana: Blue Ocean Investment has launched its state-of-the-art LPG bottling plant, revolutionizing the LPG industry with its cutting-edge technology.
💧 Water systems
Kenya: INNO-Neat Energy Solutions has created SafiSolar, a solar-powered water filter removing contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals.
💻 Digital transformation
Nigeria: Microsoft and Flutterwave have formed a five-year partnership to leverage Microsoft's intelligent cloud and intelligent edge to enhance payment innovation for merchants and SMEs across Africa.
Nigeria: Archivi.ng teaches AI about African history with a digital archive of news stories, since AI models often lack African data.
South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya and Nigeria are Africa’s Top 4 startup ecosystems, driven by achievements in funding, deal count, and sector-specific advancements
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Thanks for reading,
Carolin