Press release -
Swedfund invests in solar energy
Swedfund invested USD 30 million on the 1stof March in the Mirova Gigaton Fund[1]. The main purpose of investing in the fund is to reach out to projects in developing countries, with debt financing through a wide range of important, complementary solar energy solutions outside the regular grid, so-called off-grid solutions.
Mirova SunFunder is a leading impact investor, solving energy access and climate change challenges in frontier markets, primarily Africa, by providing clean energy financing.
- Solar energy solutions are crucial to achieving the 2030 goal of universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy, says Swedfund's CEO Maria Håkansson.
Mirova, the affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investments, supported by Mirova SunFunder East Africa Ltd as Investment Advisor, a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Nairobi, launched this blended finance debt fund to accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging countries in Africa and Asia Pacific predominantly, as well as Latin America and the Middle East
The fund’s target size is USD 500 million and expects to deploy USD 1.2 billion of private debt throughout its life primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in solar home systems, agri-solar, commercial & industrial solar, telecom tower solarization, mini-grids and other promising sectors such as e-mobility, battery storage, climate-smart food systems, energy efficiency and carbon credit pre-financing.
Classified “Article 9” under the framework of the new European SFDR[2], the fund aims to impact peoples’ lives by offsetting CO2 emissions (SDG 7, SDG 13), creating jobs (SDG 8), advancing gender equality (SDG 5) and improving energy access (SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 5). Swedfund is a long-standing partner of Mirova SunFunder: in 2020, it invested USD 12 million in the firm’s prior debt fund.
Swedfund contributed to develop the fund’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects through guidance on the implementation of sustainability improvements, the hiring of an ESG & Impact Manager and by providing Technical Assistance support to build an environmental and social management system and strengthen the fund's gender equality work.
Facts about Mirova SunFunder
ABOUT MIROVA SUNFUNDER
Mirova SunFunder, formed by the acquisition of SunFunder by Mirova in June 2022, has closed more than USD230 million in debt financing to 59 solar borrowers in emerging markets, improving energy access for millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa*. Investments to date have been in the off-grid solar, mini-grid, productive use, C&I and telecom ESCO** sectors in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
*Mirova SunFunder as of December 2022.
** Energy System Company
ABOUT MIROVA
Mirova is a management company dedicated to sustainable investments and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers. Through conviction management, Mirova's goal is to combine long-term value creation and sustainable development. Pioneers in many areas of sustainable finance, Mirova's talents aim to continue innovating in order to offer their clients solutions with high environmental and social impact. Mirova has been active in the energy transition infrastructure sector for 20 years and has financed more than 330 projects for a total of over 6.5 GW of potential generation capacity across Europe and Asia. Reaffirming its position as a major European player in renewable energy, storage and low-carbon mobility, the company has recently completed the raising of €1.6 billion for its fifth energy transition infrastructure equity fund.
Mirova and its affiliates manage €27.2 billion and €3.3 billion for energy transition infrastructure investments as of December 31, 2022. Mirova is mission-driven company, labeled B Corp*.
*The reference to a ranking or a label does not prejudge the future performance of the funds or its managers
[1] MIROVA GIGATON FUND is structured in the form of a SICAV RAIF (Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable, Reserved Alternative Investment Fund) under Luxembourg law, open to subscription to eligible investors as defined in the regulatory documents. Mirova is the management company and Mirova SunFunder East Africa Ltd acts as Investment Advisor to Mirova. The supervisory authority approval is not required for this fund.
The investment in this fund is exposed to risk of capital loss. The fund regulation is the source of information as it contains important information about its investment objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, and the main risks associated with any investment in that fund. It also contains information on fees and commissions, and other fees of the fund.
The information presented above is neither a contractual document nor intended to be an investment advice to subscribe in the fund, nor it is Mirova’s commitment to structure and implement the fund, or any other vehicle. Access to the products presented here may be restricted to some persons or in some countries.
[2] The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Reporting (SFDR) Regulation aims to provide more transparency in terms of environmental and social responsibility in financial markets, through the provision of sustainability information on financial products (integration of risks and negative sustainability impacts). Products classified as Article 9 within the meaning of SFDR have a sustainable investment objective compared to products classified as Article 6 (no sustainability objective) or Article 8 (environmental and social characteristics).More information on Mirova’s website.
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About Swedfund
Swedfund is Sweden's development finance institution with the mission to contribute to poverty reduction through sustainable investments in developing countries. Our investments in the private sector contribute to a growing number of jobs offering decent working conditions and increases access to essential products and services like electricity and healthcare. Climate and gender are themes that permeates our investment process.
Swedfund invests in energy & climate, financial inclusion and increased access to capital for micro, small and medium-sized companies as well as healthcare and digitalization.
We are part of Swedish development corporation, and we measure and report all our results. As a state-owned company, Swedfund is managed by the Ministry of Finance. We are financed through reflows from the portfolio and capital injections from the development assistance budget. The return from the portfolio finances our operations and we reinvest reflows from our portfolio in new projects, i.e. we recycle our capital injections.
For more information: please visit www.swedfund.se/en| www.edfi.eu
