Harith General Partners, and power company Anergi Group, are backing the fund, known as the Pan-African Renewable Energy Fund (PAREF). Harith and Anergi have been working together over the past 13 years to develop and invest in African power projects. Anergi is owned by the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Funds, which is managed by Harith. The power company develops, operates, and owns power plants in sub-Saharan Africa. Harith is also known for being the majority partner in the Takatso Consortium, which is the government’s strategic equity partner for SAA. In establishing the partnership, Harith and Anergi sought to tackle the energy accessibility problem in Africa. According to the International Energy Agency’s latest Africa Energy Outlook report, 600 million people in Africa, or 43% of the population, do not have electricity access. The majority of which, or 590 million, are in sub-Saharan Africa. To plug this gap about $25 billion should be invested in modern and affordable each year until 2030.
Africa’s energy generation is also mostly carbon intensive. Introducing renewables can help countries adopt cleaner sources of energy and mitigate climate change. There is scope to introduce renewable energy to Africa. The trouble is investment in renewables in Africa has been low – the fund is also meant to address this and aid the shift to low-carbon energy generation technologies. PAREF is an important and urgent response to climate change – by accelerating Africa’s race to net zero, transitioning to a low carbon future and connecting millions of Africans to sustainable, green energy.