- The electricity access provider WeLight is raising €19 million from three investors.
- The funds are intended to finance the electrification of 120 villages via solar mini-grids.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), Triodos Investment Management, a Dutch investment fund manager, and the European Union’s (EU) Electrification Financing Initiative are all contributing to the €19 million investment (EDFI). The financing helps a €28 million electrification project managed by WeLight.
The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, the French company Sagemcom, and the Tananarive-based Axian Group collaborated to create the business, which is situated in Madagascar (NORFUND). The WeLight initiative will get €9 million from these current shareholders. Through solar mini-grids, 120 villages are anticipated to be electrified.
A small solar power plant is connected to a distribution network as part of WeLight’s mini-grid. Forty-five thousand homes and companies metered for billing will have access to power through these mini-grids, according to expectations.
According to the corporation, the electricity initiative will assist 250,000 individuals. The project is being carried out with the Ministry of Energy of Madagascar and the Agency for the Development of Rural Electrification (ADER). WeLight has so far installed 40 solar-powered mini-grids in eight different regions of Madagascar. The project, which has the support of the EIB, EDFI ElectriFi, and Triodos Investment Management, will allow the business to expand into four more areas.
“Access to affordable and clean energy for all is an important sustainable development objective and contributes to the green and just transition supported by the EU’s Global Gateway strategy,” said Isabelle Delattre Burger, the EU’s ambassador to Madagascar. The island is one of the least electrified countries on the African continent, with a rate estimated at only 33% by the World Bank.