The Moyi Power consortium, formed by Gridworks, Eranove and AEE Power, has appointed the African Development Bank as the mandated lead arranger for debt finance and coordinator of viability gap funding for its metro-grid projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Moyi Power project (“Moyi”) is an ambitious program to build greenfield, solar-powered utilities to serve up to a million people in three isolated cities in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where fewer than 20% of the population has access to electricity.
The Moyi Power consortium has developed the projects and is ready to commence the financing stage and secure the viability grant financing required to unlock around US$145 million for the initial 5-year investment in these catalytic metro grid projects.
The mandate letter was signed during the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco today.
Moyi has generated significant interest from the development finance community. It will provide a replicable, commercially sustainable model for further investment in greenfield utilities in DRC, and the project will reach many more customers than traditional, small-scale mini grids.
Moyi is a word for sun in Lingala, one of the four national languages of DRC, and one of the main languages of the three cities, Bumba, Isiro and Gemena, that will be served by the company. Moyi will provide city wide, 24/7 electricity and street lighting, with over 85% of the power sourced from solar panels. The utilities will be self-sustainable after the initial financing round, which is expected to conclude in the next 12-18 months. Further capacity expansions will be financed throughout the 20-year concession. The cost of the project over its full term is expected to be around US$340 million.
Representing the Moyi Power consortium, Chris Flavin, Gridworks Interim co-CEO, said:
“The consortium is delighted to partner with AFDB on the Moyi Power projects. As the lead arranger AFDB will play a critical role in helping to deliver this project. Moyi will bring reliable, affordable electricity to homes and businesses in northern DRC and demonstrate a replicable model for delivering distributed utilities at real scale in Africa.”
Representing the African Development Bank, Kevin Kariuki, Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate & Green Growth said:
“The AfDB is proud to be the mandated lead arranger for the Moyi Power project. This initiative aligns perfectly with our High 5 priorities, particularly ‘Light Up and Power Africa,’ and actively contributes towards achieving the goals of Mission 300 and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). Moyi showcases the transformative potential of blended finance and private sector partnerships in bringing clean, reliable energy to underserved communities, and we are confident it will serve as a model for future projects.”
For more information on Moyi Power, go to: https://gridworkspartners.com/moyi-power
About Gridworks:
Gridworks develops and invests in Africa’s electricity networks. We provide long-term capital to transmission, distribution and distributed renewable energy businesses. A partner to governments, utilities, and companies in the energy sector, we aim to connect Africa’s people and its businesses to reliable, affordable power.
We are owned and funded by the UK government with British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution, as our 100% shareholder.