Fund will invest in companies offering access to renewable energy off-grid solutions
Bamboo Capital Partners, a Luxembourg-based company, has been selected by the government of Haiti and the World Bank to manage the $17.22 million Electricity Off-Grid Fund (OGEF) that will increase access to renewable energy in Haiti.
The goal of the fund is to provide 200,000 Haitian households with electricity over the next 10 years. Currently, less than one in three households in Haiti have access to electricity. In rural areas, access to power is as a little as 5 percent.
“Access to energy is one of the most important challenges the world faces today, with 1.1 billion people without access to reliable energy source. This problem is particularly striking in Haiti, where the majority of the population still lacks access to electricity,” said Jean-Philippe Schrevel, Founder and Managing Partner of Bamboo Capital Partners. “OGEF was launched to respond to this challenge by investing in companies that can provide Haitian households of cleaner energy sources, reliable and decentralized, avoiding the need for costly infrastructure in the process. “
The fund was established by the Haitian government, with assistance from the World Bank to play a key role in the transformation of the currently underdeveloped energy system from an unreliable and centered on expensive fossil fuels, towards a modern energy system that is sustainable and based on diversified energy sources.
“Access to clean, modern energy for all Haitians, especially those living in remote areas with no experience of access to electricity is one of the main objectives of the government. The government also understands that the lack of access to sustainable funding is a major obstacle to private initiatives to help achieve this goal,” said Nicolas Allien, Project Coordinator energy department of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications of Haiti. “OGEF was created to remedy the specific obstacle. The government is confident in the ability of OGEF, under the direction of Bamboo Capital Partners and FDI, to play a catalytic role in stimulating investments in energy access off grid in Haiti. ”