Spark + Africa Fund
BIO has granted USD 350 K to the technical assistance facility of the Spark + Africa Fund, an impact investment fund aiming to develop and scale an inclusive and sustainable clean cooking industry.
Amount
$ 350,000.00
Type of investment
Subsidy
Beneficiary locations
Investment field
Investment Companies & Funds
Activity
Spark+ Africa Fund is an impact investment fund aiming to develop and scale an inclusive and sustainable clean cooking industry. The Fund will invest in companies that manufacture and distribute clean and energy-efficient cooking solutions in base-of-the-pyramid markets in sub-Saharan Africa, such as biomass stoves, advanced biomass fuels, ethanol and biogas systems. Spark+ will also invest in distributors and consumer finance providers, such as off-grid solar companies and microfinance institutions that extend their services to clean cooking products.
Spark+ aims to directly address the critical investment gap in the clean cooking sector and achieve a range of societal benefits, including improved respiratory health, greater gender equality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, industrial and economic development, and poverty reduction
Technical assistance facility
The technical assistance facility will deliver a range of types of advisory support, as well as training and capacity building, to improve the commercial performance and development impact outcomes of the fund’s investees.
Expected impact
Spark+ aims to contribute to at least 11 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is a reflection of the multidimensional developmental impact and sustainability objectives of the Fund, and the potential for impact associated with clean cooking solutions generally.
Some of the notable portfolio-level Development Indicator Targets include:
- 4.5 million households adopt clean cooking or other energy access products, with an average of a 15% reduction/savings on cooking fuel cost per customer
- 3 million customers receive financing via credit schemes with MFIs, PAYG solutions, or other financial or business model-related mechanisms that reduce upfront costs historically prohibitive to customer adoption
- 2.5 million female customers receive financing via credit schemes with MFIs, PAYG solutions, or other mechanisms
- 15.9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) avoided
Made possible through this investment
BURN Manufacturing
Kenya
BURN Manufacturing is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-quality, life-improving cooking solutions for the mass market in sub-Saharan Africa.
View more of our investments in this region
Investment Companies & Funds
African Rivers Fund IV
10,000,000.00
Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zambia
05/12/2024
Equity
