The European Investment Bank (EIB) is investing €40 million in Acre Export Finance Fund I. This facility of the investment company Acre Impact Capital will reinvest the funds in climate infrastructure in Africa.
The Acre Export Finance Fund I is being financed to the tune of €40 million. The funds are being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which believes that export finance “allows project promoters to significantly reduce the cost of debt by obtaining both very attractive financing on financing guaranteed by the official export credit agency (ECA) and long-term financing of up to 22 years”.
The Acre Export Finance Fund I was launched in 2022 by the investment company Acre Impact Capital with the aim of contributing to the development of sustainable and climate-friendly infrastructure in Africa. “The EIB is delighted to partner with Acre Impact Capital to support this unique and innovative fund, which aims both to fill a critical market gap and to mobilise institutional capital for sustainable, impact-driven African infrastructure and gender equality”, said EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros.
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The $200 million fund targets key sectors, including renewable energy, access to drinking water, health, agriculture, sustainable cities and ecological mobility. The Acre Export Finance Fund I is starting operations at a time when Africa needs climate finance more than ever. The Climate Policy Initiative estimates the continent’s climate finance needs at $277 billion. Africa has received only $30 billion in climate finance, 50% of which has been allocated to 10 countries.
Acre’s investment company Impact Capital also intends to use its fund to reduce the infrastructure investment deficit in Africa, estimated at $100 billion a year. However, “the current credit environment creates attractive opportunities for savvy investors, while addressing the urgent need to finance critical infrastructure projects”, explains Hussein Sefian, Managing Director of Acre Impact Capital.
Jean Marie Takouleu
