Norfund backs creation of a new energy giant in South Africa

September 23, 2025

Dear subscriber, this is a prototype. Please help us with feedback and tips. Just press reply.

Norfund is investing $86 million to launch a new company, Anthem, which plans to develop up to 11 GW of solar and wind power in South Africa, four times the size of its current portfolio. The investment is partly funded by capital released from Norfund’s exit from the Kenhardt project, the country’s first large-scale hybrid solar and battery facility.

  • The launch of Anthem is timely because South Africa needs to solve its current energy problems and develop new sources of power beyond coal, which makes up 80% of the energy composition.

  • The company will focus on hybrid battery storage at selected power stations and assess standalone BESS investments. This aligns with national efforts to mitigate solar and wind intermittency in large-scale renewable projects.

  • Our take: Strategic partnerships and capital recycling can unlock large-scale renewable infrastructure in coal-dependent markets.… Read more (2 min)

Africa needs around $100 billion each year to meet its energy ambitions, but funding remains a stumbling block. The absence of a transparent, scalable model has slowed capital inflows. Now, Electrify.solar is introducing a novel approach that seeks to convert future electricity sales into digital tokens to unlock financing for solar projects across the continent.

  • African energy projects often rely on foreign capital, typically in US dollars or euros, while generating revenue in volatile local currencies. This mismatch exposes investors to exchange rate risks, adding 5–6 percentage points to the cost of capital.

  • Although capital exists, concessional finance for small-scale projects is limited. Most of it is directed toward utility-scale developments, leaving the distributed mini-grid sector struggling to secure affordable funding.

  • Our take: Long-term success of the model will depend on stimulating demand through productive uses of energy… Read more (2 min)

Africa’s schools burn 8 million tonnes of firewood each year, equivalent to 14 million tonnes of CO₂. Switching these kitchens to clean cooking could unlock $668 million through carbon finance, write Benson Ireri and Ali Mohamed in today’s opinion piece. They argue that institutional kitchens are the overlooked “missing middle” in Africa’s energy transition.

  • Ambassador Ali Mohamed is the Special Envoy for Climate Change in the Executive Office of the President, Republic of Kenya. Benson Ireri is the head of the clean cooking delivery unit within the office of the special envoy for climate.

  • “More than 53 million children across sub-Saharan Africa receive school meals, and cooking those meals cleanly would save budgets, improve nutrition delivery, and channel more value into local economies”, they say.

  • Click here to read the full article… Read more (7 min)

AMDA and APELCA formalise collaboration to expand sustainable energy in underserved communities in Cameroon

Events

🗓️ Participate in South Africa’s African Energy Week 2025 event (Sep 29)

🗓️ Sign up for the World Power-to-X Summit 2025 (Oct 1)

🗓️ Register for unlocking the power of minigrids in East Africa workshop (Oct 2)

Jobs

💼 Join Keru Solar’s team as a Sales & Marketing Lead (Kenya)

👩🏻‍💼 Become Engie’s Customer Service Agent (Uganda)

🦺 Apply for Masunga’s Bridging Software Engineer role (Kenya)

👷🏾‍♂️ Spearhead Scatec’s electric operations (South Africa)

Various 

⚡ All On reinvests in Koolboks’ $11 million Series A funding

🤝🏻 LONGi and JinkoSolar reach settlement in global patent dispute

🔌 Renergen and Springbok Solar settle Free State energy project legal conflict

💵 Zimbabwe pledges transmission improvements, growth of private distributors

Seen on LinkedIn 

Gavin Mooney, General Manager at Kaluza, says, “Solar + batteries is becoming a winning combination at providing firm power in many parts of the world, and this is only going to increase as prices and performance continue to improve.”