Portfolio Partner Profile

Africa Go Green Fund

The Africa Go Green Fund (AGG) is a debt financing platform with the objective to spur additional anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in Africa by providing debt and technical assistance to corporate and industrial entities, local financial institutions, and other partner institutions that develop and/or invest in eligible energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. AGG is determined to push boundaries by providing capital that is tailored to the needs of businesses willing to address climate change head-on.

In addition, the Fund’s work contributes to the long-term climate change objectives of the Paris Agreement. Thus, AGG’s sustainable investment goals fall within the scope of the Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation’s article 9, which is achieved if a fund has sustainable investment or a reduction in carbon emissions as its objective.

AGG pursues the following impact goals:

Fostering energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy production by extending loans and mezzanine instruments dedicated to finance energy solutions predominantly via direct investments to private sector clients (focusing on MSME’s micro, small and medium enterprises);
Catalyzing local financial sector to finance private sector investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy by demonstrating the commercial viability of green finance predominantly via guarantees and guarantee-type products;

AGG’s investment activities have a direct contribution to SDGs 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and 13 (Climate Action), in addition to other secondary SDGs including SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

The Fund also recognizes that expanding the involvement of women in the economy accelerates economic growth in developing countries and is committed to actively seeking out opportunities to apply a gender lens to its investment activities. AGG aims to pursue activities that will lead to a greater integration of women and women’s interests in the way they finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

AGG invests across five main sub-sectors which include green transportation, green buildings, green appliances, industrial energy efficiency and renewable energy. AGG also provides technical assistance aimed at maximizing learning-by-doing opportunities, facilitating deals, and encouraging the long-term sustainability of the energy efficiency and renewable energy market in Africa.

The Fund was initiated by KfW (on behalf of the German Government), a German state-owned investment and development bank, and is managed by Cygnum Capital.

Featured Impact Story

Impact Story

BURN Manufacturing provides clean cookstoves to individuals and families

Burn Manufacturing, a clean cooking leader based in East Africa, is transforming household energy use by producing and distributing high-efficiency cookstoves, delivering environmental, economic, and health benefits at scale.

Thier customer Ruth, from Nairobi, Kenya said of BURN Manufacturing’s cookstoves, “Before I started using Jikokoa (cookstove), my children would cough, get headaches and get dizzy because of the smoke. Since I started using the Jikokoa, we no longer have these health problems. With the Jikokoa I can cook inside our home without worrying about my family getting ill.”

Photo credits: BURN Manufacturing

Impact Story

Ampersand transforms the motorcycle taxi industry

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Ampersand, a leading e-mobility company in East Africa, is transforming the region’s motorcycle taxi industry by replacing petrol-powered motorbikes with electric alternatives, delivering environmental, economic, and social benefits.

One of Ampersand’s drivers, Marie Josie has three children and is a single mother. She said of Ampersand, “I began earning a living as soon as I started my taxi business. I could pay the daily rent for the motorcycle and still have money left to use at home.

Before [electric motorbikes], the bikes were a bit taller, but now the bikes we use are so much better and easier. It's easy to estimate my earnings and take-home pay, and the bike is powerful enough even on hilly terrain, making it suitable for anyone to ride.

Since using this Ampersand bike, I have been able to pay my rent, my children go to school, I buy groceries and cater for my other day to day needs.

In my future, my dream is to at least get 3-4 other bikes and [manage] additional drivers…and to be able to get more time with my kids.”

Photo credits: Ampersand

Impact Story

DelAgua funds clean cookstoves with carbon credits

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DelAgua offers an innovative platform which uses carbon credits to fund high quality clean cookstoves with integrated education and support, free of charge, targeting Rwanda, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone.

One of DelAgua’s end clients, Muragijemanya Epiphanie, is a farmer in Rwanda’s Kamonyi District. She lives with her two grandchildren, Belise age seven and Laurence age six. Epiphanie is happy that she can now warm their food as often as she needs to and easily boil their drinking water, which she does 3 times a week.

The smoke of the open fires used to affect her grandchildren; they would fall sick often because of the smoke inhalation. However, with the clean cookstoves, she noticed a big difference in their health.

Epiphanie explained, “This stove has really saved me a lot of time. As an old woman living with 2 young children, I can now help them with schoolwork, they can play comfortably around the cooking area, and I can also rest because I don’t have to collect firewood every day. At my age, that was not a simple task because I often had to go with the children to collect firewood, I could not leave them home alone.”

Photo credits: DelAgua

Impact Story

Kigali’s Big Shift to Small Electric Motorcycles

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In Kigali and across East Africa battery-powered motorcycles are slowly replacing oil-guzzling motorbikes, as they bring more benefits than just reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Electric motorcycles cost less to acquire, finance, and maintain than an oil-powered motorbike, allowing drivers to save life-changing money for their families. With a petrol bike a driver spends around $2,000 a year, however with an e-motorbike a driver can save a third of the cost, which is about $700 a year.

Ampersand, Africa’s first electric vehicle and EV energy company, is working to transition Kigali’s community to e-motorbikes and cut emissions, help drivers save money, and fuel a greener future. The company was founded in 2016 and manufactures lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. Since its founding, Ampersand has grown its fleet in Rwanda to more than 2,200 e-motorcycles, over 300 employees, and 26 charging stations. In Rwanda and Kenya combined, Ampersand powers over 1.2 million km per week and provides 120,000 battery swaps every month.

Numukobwa Dative is one of Ampersand’s customers and began driving a year and a half ago. She purchased her e-motorcycle for $2,100, including interest, through an 18-month credit financing program coordinated by Ampersand and The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and funded by UN-Habitat via SOLUTIONSplus. The battery provides electric power, giving Dative a smooth, silent ride of up to 100 kilometers (km) per charge. Dative and a group of 32 other women received free driving instruction and have since formed a cooperative to support each other. Dative has also completed a short mechanics course. Dative’s e-motorcycle debt is now fully paid thanks to a steady stream of daily customers who hire her to take them to school, work, bus stations, and home again. Read more about Ampersand’s work here.

Photo credit: Julia Schmalz/IFC

Impact Story

Bboxx provides reliable power to small business owners

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Bboxx, a next generation utility, is an industry leader and global pioneer of Pay-As-You-Go solar home systems and clean cooking stove solutions. The organization works across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Togo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso, improving the accessibility of clean cooking and solar home systems to low-income households. Africa Go Green’s (AGG) loan will help provide accessible commercial solutions to address complexities with distribution and limited customer purchasing power. AGG’s support will contribute to the mitigation of an estimated 760,000 tons of CO2, the equivalent of 150,000 passenger cars driven regularly for a year.

Chikuru Bwinika Garcia (above) is a business owner who uses Bboxx Cook to fulfill orders from her clients. With the new Bboxx product, Chikuru can now take orders from her customers in the mornings and have them ready for distribution by the evening.

Photo credits: Bboxx Limited

Impact Story

Bboxx provides reliable power to small business owners

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Before Bboxx Cook, Erick Moussa Djuma (below) used charcoal to cook and prepare orders for his business, which took too long to light and prolonged the preparation time. Bboxx Cook helps Erick run his business more efficiently and allows him to cater to a wider range of customers.

Watch the video below to learn more about how Bboxx's products help Chikuru and Erick:

Photo credits: Bboxx Limited

The information presented is provided by our portfolio partners for general informational purposes only. We have not independently verified for accuracy or completeness. The testimonials presented reflect the personal experiences and opinions of portfolio partners and their investees, and do not guarantee the same results for others.