The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that its Board of Directors has approved a US$32.5 million equity investment in Climate Investor One’s (CIO) Construction Equity Fund (CEF), a platform that uses a unique blended finance approach, and targets the entire asset lifecycle to deliver viable renewable energy projects to the market.

CIO will provide capital and technical assistance for early stage project development to ensure that bankable energy projects are delivered to the market; invest equity for the construction of projects; and provide debt at competitive terms. The Bank’s participation will be limited to investments within Africa.

The Bank’s investment in the CIO’s CEF will be managed by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), a joint venture between Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and Sanlam InfraWorks. The Fund’s focus on investing in early stage project development will also assure the timely implementation of well-prepared projects.

In addition, the Bank’s investment is forecast to unlock at least an additional US$40 million dollars of investments into Africa.