Clifford Chance advises Africa50 on key milestones for its DRE Fund initiatives

Global law firm Clifford Chance has served as a strategic advisor to Africa50, a pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager, in connection with two key milestones in its distributed renewable energy (DRE) initiatives: the first close of the pan-African Africa50 DRE Fund, sponsored by the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and the commercial launch of the Nigeria DRE Fund.

Strategically aligned with Nigeria’s national development priorities, the Nigeria DRE Fund is designed to contribute to the country’s ambitions to expand reliable, affordable and sustainable energy access. It also supports Mission 300, the ambitious effort to connect 300 million people across Africa to electricity by 2030.

The Africa50 DRE Fund, sponsored by ISA, is a financing platform designed to mobilise concessional, institutional and private capital for DRE projects such as commercial and industrial solar, mini-grids, clean cooking and e-mobility across Africa.

Through these two initiatives, Africa50 is seeking to mobilise up to US$500 million of investment into DRE solutions and expand access to reliable and sustainable energy across the continent.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Funds & Asset Management partners Patrick Meniru and Gerard Saviola, with support from senior associate Gugu Madonsela and associate Snow Zheng.