M a r k e t N e w s
Paris Power Firm Comes Up With U.S.$2 Million Deal for Tanzania
Posted on : Monday, 30th November 2015
Dar es Salaam — Energy Access Ventures (EAV), a Paris-based investment firm that backs entrepreneurial companies that bring access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, has announced its inaugural $2 million investment in Off-Grid Electric (OGE) which has offices in San Francisco, California (USA) and Arusha in Tanzania.
OGE generates solar power and then distributes the electricity to rural households that are mostly far from the main grid.
EAV's $2 million investment was made as part of a $25 million investment round including leading investors DBL Investors, Zouk Capital, Vulcan Capital and SolarCity. The deal brings together the strength and resources of these global firms with EAV's sector and regional focus, in order to help expand OGE's reach.
The funds will be used to enable OGE to enter its second African market, Rwanda, and to continue to scale up its partnership with the Tanzanian government to power 1 million homes by 2017, the company said in a statement on Friday. Dr Michael Gera, managing partner of EAV, said: "As the only venture and impact fund wholly focused on bringing energy access to the 600 million people who do not yet have it, I am very excited that we have found such a great company for our first investment.
Source : allafrica.com
