Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), which provides flexible financing options to African SMEs and start-ups, has launched I&P Digital Energy fund in collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD).
This 4 million euro ($4.06 million) programme intends to fund a dozen energy-related start-ups and SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
I&P Digital Energy, funded by the European Union (EU) and executed by AFD, “will solve the issues of finance, capacity building, and structuring of digital enterprises, delivering solutions for energy access, with the goal of stimulating job creation and preparation for investment and scaling up.”
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It is the seed funding component of a bigger programme known as the “Digital Energy Facility,” which is also supported by the EU and provides a comprehensive range of instruments to assist energy operators and start-ups in their digitization process.
I&P Digital Energy will provide startup investment in the form of a repayable advance in the amount of 300,000 euros per company. It will also give each recipient structure with strategic support and capacity building.
I&P Digital Energy will be adopted locally in ten African countries. Gaia Impact Fund, a venture capital business specialising on renewable energy in Africa and Asia, will also assist in the program’s implementation as a sector expert.
The two partners hope to promote the growth and development of start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa that offer solutions combining new technology and access to energy through I&P Digital Energy.
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According to I&P, the energy sector, particularly the electrical sector in Africa, has been subjected to developments that have disturbed network structure, shifting from a centralised to a more flexible and decentralised infrastructure.
African Digital energy fund African Digital energy fund
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh