The Foundation for Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa (CEI Africa) has received preliminary IC approval to invest in MPower Ventures AG (MPower) alongside the crowdfunding platform Crowd4Climate, lending up to 50% of the funds raised from the platform. MPower’s campaign on Crowd4Climate has been launched and has raised more than EUR 110,000 thus far. The terms of CEI Africa’s potential investment are laid out in a term sheet signed by both parties. CEI Africa’s commitment is contingent upon the Foundation’s concluding satisfactory final due diligence (currently ongoing) and receiving the required final investment committee approval. CEI is also considering investing in an upcoming equity crowdfunding campaign MPower is looking to raise on Oomniun.
About MPower
MPower Ventures is building a B2B platform offering solar energy and a variety of cleantech and solar appliances at an affordable cost. MPower’s solution combines cost-effective, high-quality solar products with affordable financing for end users and B2B partners combined with in-house software solutions to help distributors optimize their operations. MPower will use CEI’s contributions towards its 3-pillar growth strategy, which includes expanding the distributor network, diversifying the product portfolio, and expanding financing offerings. The goal is to make cleantech and solar solutions accessible to all and provide clean energy to customers for various purposes such as lighting, charging cell phones, using radios, and powering other products like solar pumps.
Since its inception, MPower has sold solar systems that have generated 1.2GWh of clean power, supported over 1,200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and facilitated financial inclusion for more than 4000 people with an expected significant increase as the company expands operations.
About Crowd4Climate
Crowd4Climate is a crowd-lending platform for participation in sustainable energy and climate protection projects. The company offers investors in Germany and Austria the opportunity to invest even small contributions in promising climate protection projects in Europe, especially in developing and emerging countries. Crowd4Climate attaches great importance to selecting projects that stand out due to their focus on ecological, social, and ethical aspects. Crowd4Climate is operated by crowd4projects GmbH which was founded in 2015 and is based in Vienna with a branch office in Frankfurt.
About CEI Africa
CEI Africa has allocated EUR 28M to support off-grid energy companies and mini-grid project developers through co-financing with crowd lenders, including the provision of technical assistance.
CEI Africa was established by the KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2021 to improve access to energy for rural and peri-urban households and enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. CEI Africa is managed by Triple Jump. B.V, Persistent and GreenMax Capital Group. It is a one-stop shop for mini-grid developers and other off-grid energy companies, offering a variety of financing instruments. The implementation of the Foundation’s Crowdlending window, which provides debt and investment products in collaboration with European crowd lenders, is led by Persistent. GreenMax manages the results-based and impact-based financing window, offering results-based financing grants and forgivable loans.
