39225 - Africa Renewable Energy Fund, L.P.

Who We Are
Who We Are

IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. By encouraging growth, IFC advances economic development, creates jobs and improves the lives of people.
More About Us
About IFC

Our Leadership

Development Partners
Accountability

Learn more about accountability
Annual Report

Download the Report
What We Do
What We Do

IFC advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries. We achieve this by investing in impactful projects, mobilizing other investors, and sharing expertise.
What We Do Overview
SOLUTIONS

Our products and services
OUR PRIORITIES

Climate Business

Fragile & Conflict Afflicted Situations

Gender

Mobilizing Private Capital

Sustainability
SECTORS & EXPERTISE

Agribusiness & Forestry

Creative Industries

Education

Financial Institutions

Funds

Health

Infrastructure

Manufacturing

Public-Private Partnerships

Tourism, Retail & Property

Trade & Supply Chain Finance

Venture Capital

Working Upstream
Where We Work
Where We Work

As the largest global development institution focused on the private sector, IFC operates in more than 100 countries around the globe. We apply lessons learned in one region to solve problems in another.
Overview
By Region

Africa

East Asia and Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and Central Asia

South Asia
Our Impact
Our Impact

Our impact improves lives. IFC brings a clear set of advantages to the world’s most challenging markets. Including a history of innovation, a global mandate, and a determination to achieve measurable development impact.
Our Impact Overview
PRINCIPLES & MEASUREMENT

Impact Investing at IFC

Measuring and Monitoring (AIMM)

Evaluation

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Owned by 186 member countries and consistently rated AAA/Aaa. IFC aims to achieve our mission of promoting development by providing debt and equity to the private sector, through a range of benchmark and bespoke products.

For Partners

For Investors

Get in Touch

Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

39225

Company Name

AFRICA RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND, LP

Date SPI Disclosed

Dec 8, 2017

Country

Africa Region

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Jan 26, 2018

Environmental Category

FI-1 - Significant

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Jun 25, 2018

Department

Disruptive Tech, Service & Funds

Industry

Funds

Previous Events

Approved : Apr 13, 2018
Signed : Apr 13, 2018
Invested : Jun 13, 2018

Sector

Growth Equity Fund

Project Description

The proposed project is for an equity investment by the IFC Catalyst Fund in Africa Renewable Energy Fund (“AREF” or the “Fund”), a US$200 million, 10-year, 2014 vintage private equity fund focused on investments in renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Development Impact

The AREF transaction is anticipated to have project-level impacts in the form of (i) improved services offerered to customers (i.e. increased access to energy); and (ii) environmental impacts that make a contribution to green industries (i.e. investments in clean energy with associated GHG emissions reductions). It will also have market-level impacts, (i) in sustainability, through an impact on building green industries; and (ii) on competitiveness, through diversification of the private equity product offerings in the market.

IFC and the Catalyst Fund are expected to play an important role in this transaction in three main areas: (i) providing risk financing to enable the project achieve its target size; (ii) provide equity co-investments and long-term debt financing to projects in markets where financing options are constrained; and (iii) improving AREF's current ESMS practices, particularly their external communication mechanism.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

The project has been categorized as FI-1 in accordance with IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. The Fund will invest in a variety of renewable energy technologies such as hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar power generation. The Fund’s investment portfolio and pipeline at the appraisal included mostly medium-risk projects for which the environmental and social potential impacts are limited, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressed through mitigation measures. However, there is a possibility that the Fund will also invest in higher-risk projects from such as geothermal projects or sizable wind farms, with the potential for significant adverse environmental and social risks and impacts, particularly in relation to impacts on biodiversity, involuntary resettlement and community health and safety. Therefore, given the general E&S risk profile, the overall portfolio is considered high risk and the project has been categorized as FI-1. The applicable requirements for this project are – the IFC Exclusion List, the applicable E&S laws in the countries where portfolio companies are located and the IFC Performance Standards.

The main E&S risks and impacts of this project relate to the ability of the Fund Manager to conduct adequate E&S due diligence and monitoring to identify and manage the E&S risks associated with the activities of the portfolio companies in line with IFC’s policy requirements. Berkeley has an Environmental Management System (ESMS) that is applicable to all of the Fund Manager’s investments. The ESMS includes a detailed procedure for identifying, assessing and managing the E&S risks and impacts associated with its investments throughout the investment cycle. One of the Partners is responsible for overall implementation of the ESMS, supported by a dedicated E&S Manager who is responsible for E&S management across the organization and supports the portfolio team on day-to-day basis. All projects: (i) are screened against the Prohibited Investment Activities List (compatible with the IFC Exclusion List); (ii) are reviewed and evaluated against the IFC Performance Standards, including relevant EHS Guidelines; and (iii) comply with the Core Labour Standards of the ILO. Action plans are developed to close gaps identified during the due diligence phase and the implementation of these plans are monitored by Berkeley’s E&S Manager. Based on the information available to IFC, the Fund Manager is considered to have adequate procedures and resources to manage the E&S risks and impacts associated with this Fund. To complement, its ESMS, the Fund Manager will be required to establish and implement a procedure for external communication allowing for receiving and registering communication from the public; screening and assessing the issues raised and determining ways to address them. IFC will also review the E&S due diligence reports for the first three investments (after IFC Catalyst Fund’s investment) and all category A projects.

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Berkeley Energy
Luka Buljan
Investment Director
+254 700 470 391
lbuljan@berkeley-energy.com
Nairobi, Kenya
http://www.berkeley-energy.com

For Inquiries and Comments About IFC, Contact

General IFC Inquiries
IFC Communications
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Summary of Investment Information (SII) is prepared by IFC to disclose a factual summary of the main elements of the potential investment. It also includes findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding this potential investment. The purpose of the SII is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this SII is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein. It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors’ consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following SII is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP) that went into effect on January 1, 2012.

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

Task Title & Description	Anticipated Completion Date
Formal confirmation of E&S Officer	12/20/2017
Formal confirmation of the ESMS for AREF	12/20/2017
Development of an external communication mechanism	12/20/2017

Projects

Summary of Investment Information

Project Description

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Development Impact

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

Similar Projects

Contacts

Projects

Summary of Investment Information

Project Description

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Project Sponsor and Major Shareholders of Project Company

Total Project Cost and Amount and Nature of IFC's Investment

Location of Project and Description of Site

Development Impact

Anticipated Impact Measurement & Monitoring (AIMM) Assessment

IFC's Role and Additionality

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

Environmental & Social Categorization Rationale / Key Risks & Potential Impacts

Environmental & Social Management System (ESMS)

Mitigation Measures / Environmental & Social Action Plan (ESAP)

Press-Release

Related Environmental Document

Similar Projects

Contacts

Information on E&S Complaints and Grievance Mechanisms

Disclaimer