Engie's Mini-grid projects (MIGA-14937)

Countries
  • Uganda
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Lolwe Island
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 9, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Engie Afrique SAS
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 1.62 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Sep 22, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jul 3, 2024

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, MIGA issued US$ 1.62 million Guarantee to Engie Afrique SAS (France) (Engie) to cover its equity investments in Engie Equatorial Limited for the construction, operation, and maintenance of Lolwe Mini-Grid Project in Uganda against the risks of Transfer Restrictions, Expropriation, and War and Civil Disturbance. MIGA is utilizing a First Loss Layer from the Renewable Energy Catalyst Trust Fund (RECTF) with an amount of US$0.49 million.

The Lolwe Project consists of the construction, co-financing, operation, and maintenance of a mini-grid project with an initial expected production capacity of around 960,000 kilowatt hour ("kWh") per annum to generate, distribute, and sell energy to end-users in Lolwe Sub-County, as well as supporting various productive uses of energy and ancillary services, including clean drinking water, ice production, and fish drying processing located at an industrial park, street lighting, and training and incubation services for existing and new businesses in the area.

Lolwe Island's population has been relying on individual solar house systems, batteries, individual solar panels, or small diesel generators which supply energy for less than 8 hours per day and at a high cost. With the new mini-grid, the Lolwe Project can ensure a more consistent and reliable power supply to its customers - up to 3,783 of underserved household and commercial end-users at more affordable pricing. Furthermore, the productive uses of energy are expected to bring social and economic benefits to poor and underserved communities and catalyze economic activity. The Lolwe Project is the first in a series of mini-grid investments, that will be made by Engie in Uganda over the next coming years.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The Project is Category B according to MIGA’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2013).  Overall, the Project is not expected to result in significant E&S impacts, since all of the Subprojects have either potential limited adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures, or minimal or no adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

A US$ 1.62 million Guarantee.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Engie is a French energy industrial group. Its main shareholder is the French state, which held a quarter of the capital until 2019.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Engie Afrique SAS Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

For additional information, please contact:

Philemon AYEBARE (Project Coordinator) 

PLOT 11 Wampewo Avenue 
Kampala 
Uganda  

E-mail : Philemon.ayebare@engie.com 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.miga.org/contact/access_to_information

You can also request general information about MIGA and for information on guarantees by emailing: migainquiry@worldbank.org

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works