Nuru Solar-Hybrid Mini Grids (MIGA-14609)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Mauritius
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Goma, Kindu, Bunia
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
Active
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
Nov 9, 2023
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
CES AC1 Limited
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)
$ 32.90 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
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Dec 1, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Nov 21, 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.

As stated on the project disclosure page, on November 9, 2023, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, issued a guarantee totaling US$32.9 million to CES AC1 Limited of Mauritius, a subsidiary of Congo Energy Solutions Limited (CESL), for its equity investment into Nuru SASU, a DRC-based company in charge of the construction, operation, maintenance, expansion, and modernization of multiple solar-hybrid metro-grid sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an IDA and FCS country. The MIGA guarantee covers Expropriation, Transfer Restriction and Inconvertibility and War and Civil Disturbance for a period of up to 15 years.

CESL's investments consists of (i) the refinancing of a 1.3 megawatt (MW) existing metro-grid in Goma in North Kivu province (Goma 1); (ii) the development and construction of additional 3.7MW-capacity solar-hybrid metro-grid in Goma in North Kivu province (Goma 2), (iii) the development and construction of a 2 MW solar-hybrid metro-grid in Kindu in Maniema province (Kindu); (iv) the development and construction of a 6 MW solar-hybrid metro-grid in Bunia in Ituri province (Bunia), all in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With an electrification rate of 19%, DRC has the second highest number of people without access to electricity globally. CESL plans to expand its operations across DRC to provide energy to up to 5 million people by 2025.

The Project will contribute to increased access to electricity in fragile parts of DRC, primarily by improving electricity access for Commercial & Industrial, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and residential customers, who currently have no or unreliable access to electricity. The Project is expected to have positive environmental effects from displacing diesel gensets with a greener source of energy, thereby reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated 9,458 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) emissions per year. The Project will demonstrate the commercial viability of solar hybrid mini-grids in DRC as a green and reliable source of electricity in areas that are not served or underserved by the national utility, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the associated regulatory framework, thus increasing private participation in this sector.

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

As stated on the company's website, Nuru (Swahili for “light”) is a company dedicated to enhancing connectivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nuru deployed Congo’s first solar-based mini-grid in 2017 and has a 1.3MW solar hybrid site in Goma, the largest off-grid mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa. Another solar hybrid site in Beni and two in the oriental province (Tadu & Faradje).

Nuru was first established under the name Kivu Green Energy in August 2015. We changed our name in September 2019 to reflect our expansion beyond the Kivu regions into other parts of DRC.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Congo Energy Solutions Limited Parent Company Energy invests in Nuru SARL 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.

No project contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

Client - Nuru SASU:

Address: C. Karisimbi , Q. Ndosho , Av. Buganda , Num. 001
Phone: +243 818 461 016 (Vodacom) / +243 898 909 630 (Orange)
Email: info@nuru.cd
Website: https://nuru.cd/

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