Africa-focused advisory firm Inspired Evolution has raised an additional $87.75 million for its Evolution II Fund, completing a final close of $216 million, according to media outlets.
The 10-year close-ended fund targets sub-Saharan African countries, where it will replace aging and inefficient carbon-intensive power plants as well as contribute to building least-cost, low-carbon clean and sustainable energy generation capacity.
These investments will address the estimated 130 gigawatts of suppressed demand across sub-Saharan Africa’s high-growth countries, according to Inspired Evolution.
The fund will invest primarily in solar power, wind power and hydropower in countries such as Zambia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, according to Swedfund, which invested SEK 126 million ($13 million) in the fund in April 2018.
Other investors included CDC Group, Cyane Holdings, European Investment Bank, KLP Norfund Investments, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, and a United States healthcare system, according to Engineering News. The fund received backing from 12 investors in total, comprised of a mixture of strategic international development finance institutions, specialized fund-of-funds, institutional investors, pension funds and family offices.
Evolution II held a first close in December 2016 with $89.5 million in capital commitments from international investors.
