We can help you link with funding for RE projects.
There are various finance solutions available for either home or commercial applications.

​SAAEA have partnered with international financiers for Small to Medium sized Businesses (SMEs) across Africa.
We aim to free up capital as well as reduce carbon emissions. Our uniquely innovative product's reduces costs, provides liquidity and generates maximum long term value. The models provides electricity at a lower tariff than the businesses existing tariff, generating immediate cash savings whilst only paying for power you use. Solar equipment, batteries and diesel generating backup also covered.

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The British High Commission together with the NBI and GreenCape launch Climate Finance Accelerator in South Africa and open call for proposals.

A new innovative Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) programme was launched today, which supports South Africa’s efforts to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by bringing together stakeholders that can develop and finance climate projects at scale.

The next ten years represent a critical decade for the planet. We must take rapid action if we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. The NDCs are country pledges which are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The CFA is a global technical assistance programme, funded by the UK Government’s International Climate Finance. It directly responds to the urgency and scale of the climate crisis by supporting highly promising climate projects to become more bankable and appealing to investors, so that they can secure funding more readily. The CFA approach addresses the fact that there is money available for climate finance, but it is often difficult for it to flow to the places where it is needed.

The global programme is delivered by PwC, in collaboration with Ricardo. The National Business Initiative (NBI) in partnership with GreenCape have been appointed as the national delivery partners for the CFA South Africa.

A call for proposals is now open for low carbon projects seeking finance. Developers with low-carbon projects looking for funding are invited to apply to take part in the CFA South Africa.

By engaging with the CFA programme, project developers can benefit from:

Access to investors
Coaching and best practice insights
Networking opportunities
Increased visibility
Achieving low carbon project objectives​

​Acting British High Commissioner, Adam Bye says: “The UK recognises the challenge of ensuring adequate development and private sector finance is available to fund climate projects linked to national climate commitments. I am delighted that, in addition to our significant direct support, we are launching the CFA to help improve the flow of finance to support South Africa’s NDC, helping reduce emissions, support just transition and raise climate ambition”.

The financing available and the capacities to deliver the NDCs vary across different countries, something that the NBI and GreenCape have worked to address in South Africa over the past few years.

The NBI’s CEO, Joanne Yawitch, explains: “South Africa requires a clear pathway to financing and implementing its climate targets as part of achieving a just transition for the country. This transformation must involve a country-driven shift toward policies and technologies that catalyse new investments and mainstream climate change into existing systems, as articulated in our climate commitments.”

Mobilising finance to support the low-carbon transition is one of the four key goals for the UK’s COP26 Presidency this year. Through climate finance, the UK is committed to supporting the development of a high-performing and climate-resilient economy in South Africa, both as a climate response and to ensure it remains competitive in a low-carbon global economy.

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THE INDUSTRIAL Development Corporation (IDC) said yesterday that its funding of black-owned Pele Green Energy, which is involved in South Africa’s largest renewable energy project, Redstone, underscored its “commitment to transformation” as well as improving security of energy supply in the country.

Redstone forms part of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers’ Procurement Programme. After a long delay, last week Saudi-based ACWA Power announced the it has secured R11.6 billion to fund the 100MW Redstone concentrated solar power plant, after being awarded the contract in 2015 and expected commercial operations to start in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The IDC’s exposure in the renewable energy space is currently more than R13bn.

It is a proud moment for the IDC, which has not been immune to the Covid-19 financial disruption. According to its 2020 report, the national development finance institution had to re-evaluate its investment portfolio as at March, 31,2020 amid a deterioration in the performance of the IDC’s clients, which had resulted in higher levels of impairment.

Last year as it “weathered the perfect storm”, its funding to black industrialists plummeted 48 percent to R3.1bn. However, over the past five years it had provided R24.5bn in funding support to black industrialists over the past five years, which Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel said in the report would amount to R42.6bn if support for all black-empowered firms were collated.

IDC chief executive TP Nchocho said yesterday, “Our country’s energy deficit is well documented. What is important is that South Africa is now using modern technologies, including renewables, as we transition to adopting clean sources of energy. And the Redstone project demonstrates just that. For us as the IDC, we have identified several opportunities in the renewable build programme, top of which include skills and knowledge transfer and local economic empowerment through funding community trusts.”

​hrough its funding into the energy sector, the IDC said it sought to contribute towards South Africa’s Just Energy Transition and help improve security of energy supply in the country and the rest of the continent in support of growing economies. The IDC said it funded energy generation and efficiency projects that reduced greenhouse gas emissions or avoided them altogether.

The project is expected to reach close to 44 percent local content on procurement during the construction period, create more than 2 000 construction jobs at peak, with about 400 from the local community, and create approximately 100 permanent direct jobs during the 20-year operating period.

The IDC and ACWA Power also co-funded the community’s shareholding participation in this project, while the IDC added that it would appoint a socio-economic development specialist to support and advise the community representatives.    Read more......

There are various finance solutions available for either home or commercial applications.

​SAAEA have partnered with an international rooftop financiers for Small to Medium sized Businesses (SMEs) across Africa.
We aim to free up capital for businesses as well as reduce carbon emissions. Our uniquely innovative product reduces costs, provides liquidity and generates maximum long term value for companies. The model provides electricity at a lower tariff than the businesses existing tariff, generating immediate cash savings whilst only paying for power you use
Projects from 50KW to 2MW Rooftop and Ground mounted.
Installations can be done by approved or appointed EPC contractors.

- Pay only for the power generated
- No bank funding required
- Early settlement
- Simple agreement
- No maintenance or operational risk
- Ownership transfer 

​They will operate and maintain the solar PV system supplying solar PV electricity either at a discount to the prevailing grid tariff for a term up to 13 years, or at a premium to obtain an accelerated payback over a shorter period.
The flexibility of the model being adapted to our customer's unique requirements enables companies to benefit from cheap solar PV power, and to utilise green energy, without being distracted from core business activities.
They will take operational and solar risk on the system during the contract term. Clients pay only for the power generated.
At the end of the contract term customers have the option of continuing to utilise the system or to take ownership of the solar PV system at no additional cost.
​

​Contact us for more info..... +2771 637 8466   alwyn@saaea.org

South Africa's Nedbank (NEDJ.J) will stop funding new thermal coal mines by 2025 and halt direct funding of new oil and gas exploration as it plans to phase out fossil fuel exposure over the next 24 years, it said on Thursday.
South African lenders - among the biggest banks in the continent - face pressure from environmental groups to stop funding fossil fuel-based projects viewed as a major risk to global plans to tackle climate change.
Nedbank, one of the country's four biggest banks, said it aimed to have zero exposure to all activities related to fossil fuels by 2045 and to accelerate financing of renewable energy.
"Nedbank's energy policy serves to guide the bank's transition away from fossil fuels while still providing appropriate support to existing energy requirements," said Nedbank chief financial officer Mike Davis.

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JSE-listed real estate investment trust Balwin Properties has, together with financial services provider Absa, launched South Africa’s first green home loan – the Absa Eco Home Loan.

The home loan will come with features and benefits that will appeal to customers looking to live green, the parties said on Thursday.

Balwin CEO Steve Brookes, during the launch event held at The Reid residential complex, in Sandton, said the idea of a green home loan was inspired by the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC’s) Green Bond.

He called this “the loan of the future”.

“I was impressed by how much they have achieved in driving climate-smart investment and saw an opportunity to extend this philosophy to our customers. My team and I set out to find a like-minded, innovative partner with the right technical expertise and delivery capabilities to develop such a product – Absa became an obvious choice,” he said.

“The Absa Eco Home Loan is testament to our commitment to create products and offerings that are centred on what the customer and the future of residential property needs. We recognise that sustainable living is a priority for our customers and so it must be a priority for us,” commented Absa home loans managing executive Geoff Lee.

The residential property developer last year achieved EDGE certification of 16 000 of its units, across seven of its built-to-sell developments. The IFC at the time confirmed that Balwin’s EDGE registration of 16 000 units was a global first, covering more homes than any single property developer in the world as at June 2019.

EDGE certification for new homes is implemented in South Africa by the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), in partnership with IFC. The EDGE certification can be achieved once a home achieves a 20% reduction across energy consumption, water use and embodied energy in materials.

Brookes said it had become an imperative for the company to help its customers reduce energy costs while electricity tariffs continue to rise in South Africa.

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A leading South African bank is forecasting “exponential growth” for the country’s small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) market in the coming few years, having already committed to funding project pipelines worth more than R1-billion, mostly in the form of rooftop solar.

Nedbank CIB energy finance principal Duncan Abel tells Engineering News that the market has already expanded materially from close to zero only five years ago, in spite of ongoing regulatory uncertainty. Liberalisation of the grid, wheeling and battery storage will further fuel rapid growth, he asserts.

The bank is also a leading financier to South Africa’s utility-scale renewable energy programme, with over R35-billion committed to funding such projects.

The growth in SSEG has been underpinned by a sharp fall in the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in particular, as well as a desire among South African companies for tariff certainty in a context of ongoing, above inflation, Eskom hikes and load-shedding.

In addition, many SSEG deployments, particularly those being undertaken by multinationals operating in South Africa, are increasingly motivated by internal decarbonisation targets and commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Abel says there is significant pent-up demand for small-scale deployments, which have hitherto been restricted mostly to sub-1 MW projects, owing to regulatory uncertainty regarding the licensing of larger plants.

Even absent any possible change to the regulations, Abel anticipates that demand will continue to increase strongly.

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​Sustainable finance solutions will be an important component of expanding the UK-Africa investment corridor, as Africa looks to plug a massive funding gap in key areas such as infrastructure, energy, and agriculture. To attract capital from the UK and elsewhere, African governments should consider measures to improve the ease of doing business and should ensure cost reflective tariffs to strengthen the business case for investment.

Providing funding for such large initiatives plays into a major strength of the UK – its large, diverse financial services ecosystem and preeminent financial centre.

London is expected to remain a key financing hub for African corporates and projects for the foreseeable future. In 2018, we helped raise over $18.8 billion of capital for our African clients from global markets, of which UK investors accounted for roughly a third.

African businesses see London as a vital fund-raising gateway, connecting global capital with fast growing businesses. Major flotations last year from the likes of Helios Towers and Airtel on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) – representing some of the biggest London IPOs of 2019 – speak to this. We expect an acceleration of LSE listing activity from African businesses this year and beyond.

It is important not to underestimate the asset that the City of London represents. London is such a vital financial hub and has the potential to increase rapidly its relationship with African corporates. It has liquid and mature financial markets, similar time zones to Africa, trusted judicial systems, and a common language (particularly for Anglophone countries).

Further to this, we know that there is significant appetite amongst UK investors to buy into Africa, as showcased by the recent South African $5 billion Eurobond., the largest issuance out of Sub-Saharan Africa. UK investors accounted for $900 million, or 18%, of the total issuance.

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