MADAGASCAR ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAMME (EIB-20210095)

Countries
  • Madagascar
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Investment Bank (EIB)
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
U
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
Dec 22, 2022
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
WE LIGHT MADAGASCAR SA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Climate and Environment
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.60 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.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 10
Converted using 2022-12-22 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Feb 7, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Jan 25, 2023


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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 EIB, the project will finance minigrids in Madagascar to households, business and other infrastructure facilities without access to reliable electricity supply. The electrification programme will generate a significant social, development and environmental impact, while providing a sustainable and reliable supply to un-served or under-served local communities that are currently relying on polluting and expensive fossil fuels.

The project aims at providing access to clean and affordable energy for households and enterprises in Madagascar by financing the development and construction of about 145 small PV-hybrid mini-grids. The mini-grids with a total PV capacity of 3.2 MWp are expected to directly benefit about 38,000 households and SMEs, providing initial electrification or substituting polluting and more expensive diesel-generated electricity supply.

 

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

WeLight Madagascar’s access to energy initiative (a €28 million project) will receive €19 million in financing from the EIB, Triodos Investment Management and EDFI ElectriFI — the EU-funded Electrification Financing Initiative.
WeLight existing shareholders (Axian Group, Norfund, and Sagemcom) will cumulatively bring the remaining €9 million in the form of shareholder loans.

Private Actor Relationship
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.

Axian Group, Sagemcom, and Norfund jointly invested to start WeLight-Africa, and they are currently its main shareholders.

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.

According to the company's website, WeLight is a rural electrification operator that identifies, designs, deploys and operates solar and hydro mini-grids in rural areas. To date, WeLight successfully operates 40 villages in Madagascar and Mali. In Madagascar, WeLight has deployed 35 villages in 6 regions in 3 years, representing more than 6,000 homes and businesses connected to 24/7 electricity for 30,000 direct beneficiaries. In Mali, WeLight launched its activities in 2021 with the installation of 5 solar mini-grids and is already serving more than 300 households in the country, for a total of more than 1,800 direct beneficiaries.
WeLight’s ambition is to replicate this approach in over 200 new sites by 2023.

WeLight was born out of the desire of three leading economic players, with an established track-record in Africa, to join forces to accelerate rural electrification on the continent. These three major shareholders are:

Axian Group - a diversified group present in five business areas with strong growth potential: telecommunications, financial services, energy, innovation, and real estate. With more than 4900 employees in the Indian Ocean and Africa, Axian is a partner in the economic transformation of emerging countries. It is a member of the United Nations Global Compact Initiative.

Norfund - Norway's sovereign development bank manages US$ 2.6 billion AUM in developing countries. It supports the creation of sustainable businesses in emerging markets, in particular by improving access to reliable electricity.

Sagemcom - a European group that specializes in network equipment with a unique expertise in installing mini grids and smart metering solutions in over 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Axian Group Investor -
- - - - Norfund Investor -
- - - - Sagemcom Broadband SAS Investor -
- - - - WeLight-Africa Client Energy

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.

EIB's Regional Representation for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean:

5 Greenpark Estates
27 George Storrar Drive
Groenkloof 0181 Pretoria (Tshwane)
South Africa

Telephone: +27 124250460
Fax: +27 124250470
Email: pretoria@eib.org

WeLight-Africa:

Address in Madagascar: Bâtiment Ariane 5B, Zone Galaxy, Andraharo, Antananarivo
Email: contact@welight-africa.com
Phone number for Madagascar: +261348100004

Axian Group Headquarters:

Address: Siège Axian Group Kube D, Zone Galaxy, Andraharo, Antananarivo - Madagascar BP 12007
Phone number: +261 20 22 368 68
Email: contact@axian-group.com

Norfund Head Office:

Address: Fridtjof Nansens plass 4, N-0160 Oslo, Norway
Phone: +47 22 01 93 93
E-mail: post@norfund.no

Sagemcom Headquarters:

Address: 250 route de l'Empereur, 92848 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France
Email: contact@sagemcom.com
Phone: +(33) 1 57 61 10 00

Project contacts not available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces

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