News Update: Construction of green hydrogen refueling station, solar PV module production, and more
Industry and Investment News
Hi Exseeders,
Welcome to our news roundup! Lots of exciting news around renewable energy in this edition.
Some highlights:
🌱 Cleanergy Solutions Namibia started the construction of Africa's first green hydrogen refueling station.
☀️ Auxano Solar inaugurated Nigeria's first fully-automated Solar PV module assembly factory, reducing the country's reliance on imported solar panels.
💨 In Kenya, the drive for renewable energy continues with plans for the construction of Africa's largest wind farm.
Let's dive in.
Investor news
😍 Good News:
African VC Enza Capital successfully closed $58 million fund and launched the Founder Partner program, enabling portfolio company leadership teams to become co-owners and share in overall success.
Secha Capital achieves its first closing at $15.7 million to back companies facilitating the tech-driven transition to a green economy.
A team spun off from Carlyle Group has launched Alterra Capital Partners, a new Africa-focused fund. They aim to raise up to $500 million to invest in Africa and have secured $140 million in the first round.
Kenya: Solv Kenya, a B2B marketplace for SMEs, has provided over 1 billion Kenyan Shillings in funded invoices to Kenyan SMEs within its first year of operation.
Kenya-based impact investment firm Kua Ventures has invested more than US$1 million into the growth of 20 SMEs in the country.
The Techstars Toronto Accelerator program has included 10 African startups in its latest cohort of 24 companies.
👎 Challenges:
African countries face a 500% premium on borrowing costs, totaling $56 billion in extra debt service payments.
African tech startups funding dropped by 48% compared to 2022, as the global capital crunch continues to affect the continent's startup sector.
The World Bank has identified the Nigerian naira as one of the worst-performing currencies in Africa, with a nearly 40% depreciation against the US dollar since its devaluation in June.
Industry News
🥑 Agriculture/ Food systems:
Google is launching a research center on climate-smart agriculture and is planning to invest $25 million in innovations addressing food security issues in Africa.
Ethiopia: Ethiopian Forestry Development and China's Nanjing Forestry University are collaborating to develop the bamboo industry in Ethiopia.
🌳 Ecosystems
Kenya: Climeworks and Great Carbon Valley announce exploring potential for large-scale direct air capture and storage site in Kenya
South Africa: First registered agricultural soil carbon project announced in South Africa
Kenya: The Kenyan government has initiated a project to plant 100,000 trees in the Mwache river catchment area to restore the river basin and create a safer environment as the Mwache multi-purpose dam project progresses.
💡 Energy and infrastructure
Hydrogen
Africa is becoming a prominent player in green hydrogen with projects in Egypt, Mauritania, Namibia, and South Africa.
South Africa: Sasol successfully completed green hydrogen production pilot - they expect to start consistent production in early 2024
Namibia: Cleanergy Solutions Namibia started constructing Africa's first public green hydrogen refuelling station. The project includes a 10-hectare solar park, a 5 MW Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyser, and a 5 MWh battery.
Solar
Uganda: AMEA Power has signed an agreement to develop a 25 MW solar power plant in Uganda, marking its first venture in East Africa.
Cameroon: Cameroon has expanded its solar energy capacity to 30.6 MW with inaugurations of 15 MW solar plants in Guider and Maroua, and aims to increase it to 250 MW by 2030.
South Africa: Zamlim is expanding its presence in South Africa's commercial and industrial solar sector, providing comprehensive solutions for businesses seeking self-generation capacity amid electricity rationing.
Wind
Kenya: KenGen aims to construct Africa's largest wind farm with 1,000 MW capacity, as the country pushes for 100% renewable energy generation by 2030.
Nuclear
Ghana: Two potential sites selected for Ghana’s first nuclear power plant.
🚕 Mobility and transport systems
Kenya: Watu Credit has formed a partnership with ARC Ride to manufacturing 1,000 EVs and establish over 300 swap stations in Nairobi by the end of 2024.
Rwanda: Beyond Capital Ventures invested in Ampersand E-Mobility to expand its electric motorcycle fleet and battery swap stations in Rwanda and Kenya.
🏭 Industrialisation
Kenya: The Autopax Air Yetu will be assembled in Thika, Kenya at an existing vehicle assembly plant, so far underutilized.
Kenya: Eni SpA plans to invest up to €700 million to set up plants in Africa to source around 700,000 tons of biofuel feedstock by 2026.
Nigeria: Auxano Solar commissions first fully-automated 100MW Solar PV module assembly factory reducing Nigeria's dependence on imported solar panels. The factory can produce 72,000 solar panels per year.
DRC/Zambia: The EU finalizes partnerships with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to boost local industries as the bloc competes with China to secure critical materials for the green and digital sectors, sources say.
DRC/Zambia: DRC and Zambia plan to process their own cobalt and other raw materials, aiming to become major battery producers by 2030 or 2040, challenging the traditional raw material export model.
💻 Digital transformation
Kenya: Amazon has inaugurated a new development center in Nairobi providing job opportunities in telecommunications, software development, and software engineering.
Kenya: Kenya boasts the highest-quality electronic infrastructure in Africa, according to a study by Surfshark, a Netherlands-based cybersecurity firm.
South Africa: Metrofile Cloud has introduced a rand-based "petabyte file storage" solution, offering companies cost-effective storage and challenging the fluctuating costs associated with cloud storage provided by global giants.
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Thanks for reading,
Carolin