Weza Power – Phase A (MIGA-15293)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Burundi
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
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
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
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
Jul 30, 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
Virunga Power Holdings Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
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)
$ 10.90 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.
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ MIGA website

Updated in EWS Jul 2, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 31, 2024

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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 by the MIGA, this summary covers an application made by Virunga Power Holdings Limited (Mauritius) for their equity, quasi-equity and shareholder loans investment into Weza Power (Burundi) for the preliminary development activities - referred to as “Phase A” in connection with the planned expansion, rehabilitation, maintenance, densification, marketing and operation of the low and medium voltage network in Burundi. The investor has applied for MIGA’s guarantee of up to USD 10.9 million against the risks of Breach of Contract for a period of up to 3 years.

Phase A activities will be limited to feasibility studies and technical design of the distribution network, environmental and social related studies, application for authorizations and permits, establishment of the Project Enterprise (Weza Power), drafting and negotiating of pilot project agreements, fundraising for pilot project, early procurement of materials (poles, wires, transformers, meters, etc.) and any other development activity necessary to prepare and enable the commencement of construction. The results of the preliminary development activities will support the design of a bankable pilot project (“Phase B”) consistent with MIGA’s performance standards and international standards of best practice. The scope of the future pilot is to rehabilitate part of the existing grid (specifically outside of the main urban), and to extend the distribution network to an additional 45,000 households and businesses in four selected rural areas. Phase B is currently out of scope of this Project and will be separately underwritten.

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, Virunga Power develops, invests in, and operates distributed renewable power generation and grid distribution projects that bring reliable and low-cost power to rural communities in Africa.

As stated on the company's website, Weza Power is a privately owned & operated electricity distribution company in Burundi.
It is working to connect 9 million people by providing electricity to residential & business customers across peri-urban and rural Burundi.
Weza Power is the first new private-sector electricity distribution company operating at a national level in sub-Saharan Africa for a decade. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) is financed by a blend of private and public funding, including commercial equity and debt, climate-based and other concessional funding, multilateral donor support, and private grants.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Virunga Power Holding Investor Energy invests in Weza Power (Burundi) 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 contact information provided at the time of disclosure.

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

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How it works