INDUSTRY TRENDS

AFRICA: eight investors raise $103m for Husk’s solar mini-grids

Several international financial institutions are providing $103 million to the US company Husk Power. This equity and debt financing will enable electrification via solar mini-grids in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Electricity access provider Husk Power is raising finance for its ambitious project to build 2,500 solar mini-grids in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The company, based in Fort Collins in the United States of America, has just raised $43 million in a Series D financing round. At least five investors took part in the deal.

These include Proparco, the subsidiary of the French Development Agency (AFD) group, which is stepping up its investment in renewable energy electrification in Africa, as well as the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the French investment company Stoa Infra & Energy, owned by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) and AFD.