Deneys, together with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, has advised Africa GreenCo on the investment by Sanlam Alternative Investments of US$10 million for a 10% equity stake in Africa GreenCo, making Sanlam Alternative Investments the first private institutional shareholder in the company.
Africa GreenCo is a renewable energy trader and buyer operating across the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), with a team of more than 80 professionals active in Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and licensing underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
About the Transaction
Africa GreenCo combines four capabilities in a single customer-led model: bankable long-term offtake agreements with renewable independent power producers; power sale agreements with mines, commercial and industrial customers, and utilities; continuous regional trading across SAPP and, in future, the emerging South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM); and active portfolio optimisation.
This integrated model provides a creditworthy counterparty for IPPs and their lenders without single-buyer exposure, reliable lower-carbon power for commercial and industrial consumers, and a partner for utilities that supports system outcomes through wheeling, settlement and regional market participation.
Sanlam Alternative Investments has deployed more than ZAR17 billion (approximately US$1 billion) into 40 sustainable infrastructure projects across Africa over the past decade, including through its Sustainable Infrastructure Fund. The investment in Africa GreenCo marks the first private institutional equity participation in the company.
Significance
The transaction is a milestone for Africa’s energy transition, demonstrating that institutional capital will follow where bankable market infrastructure exists. Africa GreenCo’s model is designed to provide the creditworthy, commercially structured offtake that finances new renewable generation and delivers reliable, increasingly low-carbon power to commercial and large industrial users across the Southern African region.
The investment positions Africa GreenCo to further scale its operations across the SAPP and to continue delivering the bankable offtake agreements that underpin new generation capacity across the region.
Deneys Team
Deneys and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP acted as co-counsel to Africa GreenCo on this transaction.
The Deneys team comprised Christina Pretorius and Luke Schooling. The Norton Rose Fulbright LLP team comprised Nariman Ertem, Matthew Hodkin and Alex Stewart-Moreno.
Media Enquiries
Cherisse Rao
Chief Marketing Officer, Deneys c/o Elizabeth Ferreira
liz.ferreira@narrateglobal.com
Practitioner Contact
Christina Pretorius
Director, Deneys
christina.pretorius@deneys.co.za
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