Schneider Electric Solar Inks big Africa Project Deal

Schneider Electric Solar Spain, the Spanish entity of the Schneider Electric solar business division, has entered into a strategic alliance with Qbera Capital, a leading asset management and independent advisory firm, to further support solar energy growth across selected frontier and emerging markets.

The Qbera-Schneider Electric Solar alliance provides a distinctive technical and financial proposition – further facilitating transition to net-zero carbon and specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UN SDG 7 focuses on a global effort to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030.

According to the recent Energy Progress Report, by 2030, there will still be about 650 million people without access to electricity, and 9 out of 10 of them will live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Often the biggest hurdle to deploying renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa is the lack of holistic approach including financing and technology.

Following recent successes in the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) segment, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the alliance provides corporates with a one stop solution integrating technical, financing, digital and equipment solutions supporting clean energy transition across frontier & emerging markets.

The first round of projects of 15MW will be rolled-out across in Mali, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Additional deployments of over 60MW will further target six countries.

Both parties have successfully focused on financing and developing solar energy & energy efficiency projects in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), with potential to cover a greater part of all Sub-Saharan continent.

CEO and Chairman Robert Immelé said: "I am very excited about this new business model that has already materialized into the first success. With this alliance, Schneider Electric Solar is removing one of the biggest roadblocks in green energy deployment, aligning customer needs, advisory, technology and financing."

Qbera Capital CEO Ali Shafqat said: "I am very excited about our alliance with Schneider Electric Solar. We continue to see an underserved market for solar across frontier & emerging markets, as such we are aiming to support a vast network of commercial and industrial companies with a complete solar solution."

The alliance also deepens both organization’s commitments & tangible deliverables towards multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he added.