InfraCo Africa, the African development arm of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), has announced a US$43mn anchor investment into Climate, Energy Access and Resilience (CLEAR), a climate-focused fund advised by Helios Investment Partners (Helios)
The design of the CLEAR Fund was realised by PIDG and InfraCo Africa through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s ‘MOBILIST’ Sustainable Infrastructure Competition. MOBILIST supports investment solutions looking to list on global or local stock exchanges that help emerging and frontier markets spur progress towards UN Global Goals.
CLEAR will fund climate-aligned assets and growth opportunities whilst also contributing towards achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
InfraCo Africa’s CEO, Gilles Vaes, commented, “By working alongside Helios to design the CLEAR Fund, we have brought together Helios’ deep expertise of fund management and generating growth with our proven track record in developing greenfield infrastructure in frontier markets, with a strong focus on development impact. The result of this collaboration is an innovative fund which addresses today’s global challenges around climate change and the need for transparent, sustainable investment opportunities.”
Diana Fox Carney, CLEAR chair, said, “Working at the interface of the public and private sectors, the CLEAR Fund will play a key role in mobilising capital for Africa’s low carbon development pathway. Many low carbon technologies have now reached a level of maturity that makes them not just cleaner, but also cheaper and more reliable than the traditional alternatives. This is a win for Africa, a win for investors, and a win for the world.”
Philippe Valahu, CEO of PIDG, added, “By acting as an anchor investor for the CLEAR Fund, PIDG through InfraCo Africa is delivering on our climate commitments. PIDG was established to mobilise private sector investment into sustainable and inclusive infrastructure. The CLEAR Fund will support our efforts to achieve this at scale, providing a complementary route for investors to channel finance into high-quality, climate-resilient infrastructure on the continent.”
