Blended infrastructure finance fund the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) has announced a $45-million funding contribution to commercial and industrial renewable energy company CrossBoundary Energy.

The EAAIF's investment will drive the expansion of pioneering solar, wind, hybrid energy and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in countries with favourable conditions for renewable energy where access to reliable and affordable power is critical to business growth.

The imperative for such solutions is pressing in sub-Saharan Africa, where many large companies, particularly industrials, face high electricity costs and insufficient grid reliability as impediments to operational efficiency and business growth.

In Nigeria, the economy loses as much as $26-billion a year owing to electricity shortages and power cuts.

The EAAIF's commitment will help CrossBoundary Energy expand its portfolio in key sectors such as manufacturing and telecommunications, reducing emissions at scale within energy-intensive sectors, the fund says.

The investment is part of a broader $300-million senior debt facility led and arranged by financial services firm Standard Bank of South Africa, which recently underwrote $141.5-million for the first tranche of the facility.

“By providing financing, the facility accelerates CrossBoundary’s growth plan to supply renewable-energy technologies such as photovoltaic solar, wind, BESS, hydropower and complementary thermal to businesses in regions where electricity supply is unreliable and power outages are commonplace.”

CrossBoundary has diversified operations in nine African countries. It provides clean, reliable, low-cost energy solutions to commercial and industrial clients with a portfolio of 25 operational projects worth about $100-million, comprising about 60 MW of generation assets and 22 MWh of BESS.

The company also has an additional portfolio of projects under construction, signed or awarded, of about $560-million, including 440 MW in generation assets and 570 MWh BESS, the EAAIF says.

In addition to strengthening Africa's energy infrastructure, the EAAIF's funding will support decarbonisation efforts by expanding clean energy-as-a-service, enhancing the sustainability and competitiveness of African businesses, it adds.

The contribution forms part of private sector sustainable infrastructure investor Private Infrastructure Development Group's wider mandate to accelerate the flows of public and private finance deployed for climate and nature with EAAIF deploying more than $1-billion in debt capital to transformative infrastructure in Asia and Africa by 2028.

“Our funding contribution to CrossBoundary is the EAAIF’s first commercial and industrial energy investment in Africa, complementing the fund’s investments in several utility-sized renewable-energy projects. In partnership with CrossBoundary Energy, our shared objective is driving Africa's clean energy transition and economic transformation by enabling job-creating industries to thrive,” says EAAIF fund manager Ninety One director Esther Chan.

“Our investment is a testament to the EAAIF's ability to identify and finance infrastructure projects that can boost productivity and foster long-term development in strategic sectors with the power to reshape entire economies,” she adds.

“The success of our current portfolio and future pipeline proves that the demand for energy-as-a-service, particularly in mining, telecommunications, and industrial sectors, is higher than ever.

“The contribution from the EAAIF will significantly support our business by providing finance now that will assist with further scaling of our portfolio, says CrossBoundary Energy president and chief investment officer Pieter Joubert.

“We are grateful to funders like the EAAIF who share our commitment to furthering clean growth in Africa,” he says.