On Tuesday 8th November, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, better known as COP27, the ‘SDG Namibia One Fund’ was officially launched. This new fund is premised on the principles of an innovative blended finance platform to facilitate and accelerate the development of a green hydrogen sector and economy in Namibia. The fund is created through a partnership between the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (owned by the Namibian Government), Climate Fund Managers and Invest International, both from the Netherlands.
Green hydrogen is the solution
Andrew Johnstone, CEO Climate Fund Managers: “We’re about to lose the battle against climate change. We believe that green hydrogen is the energy transition pathway and solution.” Namibia has world class conditions for generating renewable electricity through solar and wind power, which are key drivers to reduce the production cost of green hydrogen. To exploit and benefit from this potential, the Namibian Government has high ambitions for both building large scale solar and wind farms and producing green energy carriers and raw materials. Therefore, the Namibian Government has commissioned Climate Fund Managers and Invest International to set up a dedicated fund to channel all renewable hydrogen financing in Namibia on behalf of the government.
How the fund works
“We use blended finance structuring to attract both public and private capital to invest so we can support the implementation of green hydrogen projects in Namibia”, says Andrew Johnstone. “This gives private sector developers access to capital from an early stage of development, throughout construction until operations.” Invest International will act as an anchor investor in the ‘SDG Namibia One Fund’ and will provide a grant of €40 million to contribute to the first closing of the fund. It is the intention that other donors and investors will also join the journey to help Namibia into its green transition by making substantial contributions to the fund. It is envisaged that the fund size will €1 billion.
Key role for the Namibian government
Joost Oorthuizen, CEO Invest International: “With this fund we want to empower the Namibian government to take control of this unique opportunity. It will help the government in their key role to make strategic decisions about investing projects that strengthen the local green transition. In that way it contributes to the development of the country in terms of economic growth, creation of jobs and local use of green hydrogen.”
About Climate Fund Managers
Climate Fund Managers (CFM) is an investment manager proudly contributing towards mitigating and building resilience to climate change in the areas most affected by its consequences. We use blended finance structuring to attract public and private capital to invest in high-impact sectors in emerging economies. We believe in a world where sustainable investing and profitability are not mutually exclusive. We provide financing solutions for infrastructure developers in the renewable energy, water sanitation and ocean sectors, and our fund structures provide investments across the entire project lifecycle (development, construction and operational stages).
More information is available on the website climatefundmanagers.com
About Invest International
Invest International is an impact investor in innovative Dutch solutions that contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides financing solutions and project development, primarily in project finance and export finance. Invest International has the goal to support internationally focused activities from Dutch companies and international projects that contribute to the Dutch economy and international projects that provide solutions for global challenges like contributing to sustainable economic growth. The company is a Joint Venture of the Dutch Ministry of Finance (51%) and Development Bank FMO (49%). Its head office is based in The Hague, the Netherlands.
More information is available on the website www.investinternational.nl
About Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia
The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) is a fund created by the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia with the overall aim of continuing this great legacy by supporting individuals, projects and communities that ensure the sustainable use of natural resources. The EIF is building a sustainable fund that supports a variety of new and existing initiatives in the country. In doing so, we create partnerships with NGOs, Government, community-based organizations and the business community to ensure that our projects are well–positioned in the socio-economic and environmental tapestry of development, and to guarantee the buy–in of our local and international stakeholders.
More information is available on the website www.eif.org.na
