MafAfrique to raise €170 million for sustainable climate solutions
Strategy advisory and fund management group, MafAfrique is seeking to raise €170 Million to support climate-related advisory and investment in Southern Africa and Eastern Europe aimed at providing sustainable climate solutions.
The €170 Million will be deployed over the next two years across two critical sectors, solar energy and “green tech” metals. It will be deployed to support the Southern Africa region to scale up its rare earth supply chain to Europe and to pilot a solar power plant as part of Eastern Europe’s transition to a low emission economy as a model for Southern Africa.
“As countries strengthen their climate ambitions and transition to low carbon energy and electric transportation systems, demand for rare earth metals will certainly increase drastically,” said Byron Mudhune, MafAfrique Cofounder. “Other climate solutions as well, such as solar and wind energy also depend on rare earth elements of which Southern Africa can competitively plug into the European supply chain. Secondly, Coal reliant countries in Eastern Europe such as Romania have already rolled out ambitious targets to transition to low emission economies and thus can act as “pilot grounds” for joint development of medium-sized solar power plants between municipal or county governments and the private sector, a partnership model which we are very keen to replicate in future especially for some coal-reliant Southern Africa countries, delivering both development and climate impacts.”
Byron Mudhune, MafAfrique, added: “We have finalized on the opportunities, currently engaging both off-takers and finance partners who are keen to show serious commitment to both climate action and green economies.”
The global annual demand for rare-earth metals doubled to 125,000 tons in 15 years, and the demand is projected to reach 315,000 tons in 2030, driven by increasing uptake in green technologies and advancing electronics. This is creating enormous pressure on global production.
Solar and wind energy are now the cheapest sources of new power generation in Africa. Countries such as South Africa, will add significant new investments in these technologies in 2021 and beyond.
www.mafafrique.com
Source: African Business Communities
