The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide €8.1 million of the €16.2 million in financing promised to Zener. The financing is intended to support the activity of Zener, which provides clean cooking systems to Togolese households.
Its solution is based on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). According to the IFC, CO2 emissions are halved when LPG replaces wood or coal, and by about a third when it replaces fuel oil or paraffin. LPG therefore represents an alternative for households in Togo.
Currently, 90% of the population in this West African country uses biomass, such as charcoal and firewood, as their main source of energy for cooking, resulting in high levels of deforestation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and negative health effects due to indoor air pollution, especially for women and children.
With the IFC loan, Zener plans to increase the capacity of its LPG storage terminals in the country by an additional 3,600 tons and to equip five future filling stations with LPG cylinder exchange stations and solar kits.
“Zener has the only LPG import terminal by sea in Togo, which is currently operating at maximum capacity. IFC’s support will allow Zener to expand the terminal to further increase the use of LPG and help reduce the country’s carbon footprint as consumers adopt LPG as a better alternative to biomass fuels,” says Jonas Daou, Zener’s managing director.
EAST AFRICA: UNDP Launches Innovation Competition for Off-Grid Solar
Through its Climate Aggregation Platform (CAP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is launching an innovation course in off-grid solar financing. The initiative aims to accelerate access to electricity in East Africa.
The CAP Financial Innovation Challenge is open until 31 August 2022. It is an initiative of the Climate Aggregation Platform (CAP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For this first edition, the competition covers East Africa.
The competition aims to encourage the development of innovative financial aggregation structures and models that can help increase the availability and reduce the cost of clean energy financing in developing countries.
According to UNDP, its competition will also facilitate the transfer of know-how and innovative solutions that can help overcome energy-related development challenges in developing countries and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 7 on sustainable energy and SDG 13 on climate action.
The CAP Financial Innovation Challenge focuses on stand-alone solar systems, including mini-grids and solar home systems.
The competition is exclusively for projects in East Africa. These initiatives must be led by “Sell-side” actors, i.e. project owners, initiators or developers and energy companies. The competition is also open to buy-side actors, including commercial and development banks, impact investors, financial intermediaries and crowdfunding platforms.
UNDP is also opening this opportunity to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations, digital solution providers, consulting firms, research institutions, industry associations and credit rating agencies.
EU Provides Tricycles to 88 Rural Women in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the European Union (EU) is providing 88 rural women in the northern town of Domboshava with electric tricycles to improve their mobility and agricultural yields.
“We carry a lot of weight on our heads, now the tricycle lightens the burden. We even use it to go to mass! A trip to fetch grain for our chickens used to cost the equivalent of US$12 (Z$4342), but now it costs US$2.5 (Z$904),” says Danai Bvochora, a trader in Domboshava market.
According to the founder of Mobility for Africa, the start-up that manufactured the tricycles already has three exchange stations for tricycles in Zimbabwe and a rental option for US$5 a day (Z$1,800).
“Drivers can swap their lithium battery for a fully charged one, and get the tricycles repaired for free if there has been any breakage. If we could solve the transport problem, rural economies in Zimbabwe would work better,” says Shantha Bloemen.
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