CBA Managing Director Isaac Awuondo (right) and AFD East Africa Director Yves Boudot (left) prepare to sign a credit line partnership deal valued at about Ksh1.12 Billion (10 million euros) to finance green energy in Kenya as French Ambassador to Kenya Rémi Maréchaux looks on.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd (CBA) today signed a credit line valued at 10 million euros (Ksh1.12 billion) to finance green energy projects in Kenya.
The credit line has been availed to CBA for onward lending to businesses investing in renewable energy technologies projects (small hydro, biomass, biogas, solar, geothermal) as well as energy efficiency measures. This is a first step and the committed amount can be increased based on CBA appetite to finance green energy projects in Kenya.
The Green Energy Line of Credit which is one of the components of the large regional programme called “SUNREF: Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance” in order to promote financing of renewable energy & energy efficiency projects in East Africa through local banking system”.
The credit line also comes with a technical assistance programme, funded by the Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund of the European Union, that will be managed by Kenya Association of Manufacturers. This will help the bank improve its knowledge on lending to and involvement in sustainable energy projects. In addition, Kenya Association of Manufactures will assist the projects sponsors on feasibility studies and technical support.
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“This technical and financial offer is therefore particularly important to bringing additional solutions to achieve the diversification of energy resources in the East African region and help the region to transition towards sustainable energy solutions that are technically, economically and financially viable” stated Mr Yves Boudot of AFD.
France, through AFD, is a key partner of Kenya in the energy sector and intervenes in all sub-sectors, i.e. generation, transmission, distribution and demand-side management. This additional programme increases its commitment in the energy sector to 670 Million Euros and supports Vision 2030 and Kenyan public policy without burdening the Government of Kenya, with additional debt.
“Business owners are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility in running sustainable operations. The challenge for them arises when they consider the kind of investment they have to make to honour this responsibility and this partnership will make it easier for them to achieve their ambition for sustainable energy solutions,” CBA CEO Isaac Awuondo said at the signing ceremony.
He added that the global push for the adoption of renewable energy will encourage businesses in Kenya to opt for naturally available sources of energy – such as wind and solar – which are readily available but greatly underutilized in the region.
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