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Financing the Future: How Off-Balance-Sheet Special Purpose Vehicles Could Fund Africa’s Cleantech Transition
Across Africa, founders are tackling some of the world’s most difficult development challenges with cleantech solutions that require significant capital expenditure. But according to Julia Lawson-Johns, and Amar Inamdar at KawiSafi Ventures, beneath this wave of innovation lies a capital architecture that is still too shallow to enable the scale these firms now require. They argue that off-balance-sheet financing via special-purpose vehicles could provide cleantech enterprises with an alternative means of securing upfront liquidity to finance growth, and explore how these vehicles could power Africa’s cleantech transition.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Investing, Transportation
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Spiro Raises $215 Million as Race for Africa’s EV Market Heats Up
The round, backed by investors including Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane, comes four months after Spiro secured $50 million in debt financing and less than a year after a separate $100 million equity raise led by Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA).
- Categories
- Energy, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Global Scramble for Battery Metals Intensifies as U.S., Chinese Firms Target Zambia’s $10 Billion Critical Minerals Market
Rising global demand for battery metals is reshaping investment flows into Africa, with U.S. and Chinese mining firms rapidly expanding their presence in Zambia.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- e-mobility, mining, renewable energy
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Dodai Closes $13 Million Series A to Scale E-Mobility in Ethiopia
Over the next 12 months, the company aims to reach 3,000 battery swapping users supported by 30 battery swapping stations across Addis Ababa.
- Region
- Global
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Three Questions for Five African Businesses: Insights from Sankalp Africa Summit’s ‘Enterprise Showcase’
The recent Sankalp Africa Summit featured an “Enterprise Showcase” where up-and-coming African businesses shared information about their work and missions. NextBillion interviewed five of these entrepreneurs and company representatives, asking each of them three questions: What are the main challenges you’re facing in running your business? What kind of support would help you overcome these challenges? And what’s one thing you wish funders understood about your business needs? Their responses reveal some of the innovative approaches and key issues that are emerging in Africa’s vibrant ecosystem of small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Social Enterprise, Transportation, WASH
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Viewpoint: Are Tech Solutions Fixing Mobility in African Cities or Just Masking the Problem?
Ride-hailing and mobility apps do not build roads. They do not expand rail systems or redesign cities. Instead, they optimize access to what already exists.
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- Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Skoot Technology Launches Smart Electric Tuk-Tuk In Kenya
The Skoot e3W runs on SUN Mobility’s battery swapping network. Drivers use swappable batteries instead of charging, allowing them to replace depleted batteries in minutes and return to the road.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Zimbabwe Bans All Raw Mineral Exports
Africa’s largest lithium producer — whose stores make up 4.4% of global reserves — is a major supplier to China, which leads the world in refining the battery metal. But like other African countries, Zimbabwe is increasingly keen to maximize the value of its minerals by processing them at home before exporting.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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