The Current Ep 9 | Powering progress: Financing Africa's electrification

Despite Africa having 60% of the best solar resources in the world, it only has 1% of installed solar PV capacity. And some 600 million people in Africa don't have access to energy- with detrimental developmental consequences.
The need is huge, and so too is the opportunity to finance Africa’s renewable energy transition. Revego's CIO says the total investment for renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the next eight years could reach about 193 billion US dollars.
In episode 9 of The Current, we discuss what needs to be done to mobilise the necessary capital to electrify Africa. Host, Iman Rappetti, is joined by Ana Hajduka Shields, CEO of Africa GreenCo, Ziyaad Sarang, Revego's CIO and Brian Irvine, Investec's global head of Export and Agency Finance.
00:00: Intro
02:25: Meet the guests
02:58: All the resources and so little power
05:25: What's the cause of Africa's energy deficit?
06:34: What's got in the way of investment in energy infrastructure?
07:44: Moving away from fossil fuels
08:26: Africa to leapfrog to green industrialisation
09:32: The "Beautiful convergence" of climate concerns, economics and energy efficiencies
11:19: Africa's riches need to be harnessed
12:19: Innovative financing: export finance credit agency
13:14: Acre Import Capital - A real-world example
16:24: Green bonds to build infrastructure
17:15: What about equity markets?
19:13: Education is a key factor to attract capital
22:30: Regional power pools and trading of energy
24:19: South Africa to benefit from cross-border trading
25:41: C&I project for commercial off-take
26:10: In crisis comes opportunity- 193bn dollars in opportunity
This podcast was brought to you by Investec's Export and Agency Finance team to find out more click here: https://www.investec.com/en_za/investec-for-corporates/finance/export-and-agency-finance.html