“The projects say there is no money and the money says there is no projects ”, said Ina de Visser, project manager for the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme , in an interview with Solarplaza.
Indeed, solar project developers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) states are confronted by profound difficulty in financing commercial and industrial projects, whereas lenders in the region claim that they fail to source bankable projects.
In a way, such funding discrepancy has become a vicious circle where smaller projects cannot afford the costs incurred by the strict and extensive financial due diligence investigations, without which lenders would be unlikely to approve funding applications. As a result, many qualified projects become locked in capital constraints.
Various models of financing have been brought forward to tackle this conundrum. While the more traditional model, combining grant, concessional and commercial finance, might be a way out, more adventurous models are also breaking ground in SSA, and could be the “the missing piece of the puzzle for commercial and industrial solar adoption”.
Bringing together 100+ project developers, bankers, financiers and investors, Solar Finance Solutions Africa aims to unravel the issue of project financing with a focus on the Commercial and Industrial projects in SSA states.
The event is a two-day conference program that starts with market potential of solar and energy storage in SSA, running through investing in solar and storage and debt financing, and ends with innovating in investment models. Find out more about program, speakers and attending companies on the event website: www.solarfinancesolutions.com.
The event will provide a unique answer to the question what will be the future of SSA’s solar and energy storage, through the perspective of project financing. It will also be an excellent networking platform to get in touch with fund holders and project developers. Together with our sponsors, participants and partners, Solarplaza wish to help Africa get one step closer to the low-carbon development trajectory which entails more efficient generation and consumption of energy with low pollution emissions.
If you wish to discuss your involvement in the Solar Finance Solutions Africa, please contact Rik Teeuwen via rik@solarplaza.com or +31 (0) 10 280 9198. Learn more about specifics of the Southern African region with Solar Facts & Figures Southern Africa or go to the event website to find out more!
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