On November 21, 2018, America’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) said it had injected Sh600 million into Nairobi-based CrossBoundary Energy, a company that finances industrial and commercial solar installations across East Africa.
The funding is structured as debt backed by expected revenue from upcoming projects and income from earlier work, including the Garden City Mall solar installation in Nairobi, Unilever Tea Kenya in Kericho, Unilever Ghana, Guinness Ghana, The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana and Bralirwa Brewery in Gisenyi, Rwanda.
OPIC head Ray Washburne said the money would support six projects at corporate sites in Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana, with a combined output of 5.75 megawatts.
“We are pleased to be supporting them to expand the provision of cleaner and cheaper power that helps African enterprises grow and bolsters the mission of Power Africa,” he said.
CrossBoundary co-Managing Partner Matthew Tilleard welcomed the commitment, saying it would help the identified companies cut dependence on the national grid and access affordable solar power that is environmentally friendly.
“A lack of reliable and affordable power is holding back private sector-led development in manufacturing and other large industries in Africa,” he said.
CrossBoundary Energy says it funds the full installation of solar equipment and then manages the systems for clients under long-term solar power purchase agreements. Under that model, customers do not make an upfront investment and do not take technical risk on construction or maintenance.
The company said it had 28.8 MW of solar power projects operating, under construction or already awarded, with most of them spread across Africa. It also said it employed 50 people across offices in Nairobi, Bamako, Johannesburg, Lagos, Dubai, New York and Washington, D.C.
OPIC’s backing came as part of a broader set of investments that also included Nairobi-based Mobius Motors, which received a Sh500 million loan to build a fully-fledged manufacturing unit. The same report said there were also plans to fund reconstruction and expansion of the 472-kilometre Nairobi-Mombasa highway, whose contract had been awarded to US-based Bechtel Company.
