Swedfund invests $30 million in Mirova Gigaton Fund to accelerate clean energy transition in emerging markets

Swedfund invests $30 million in Mirova Gigaton Fund to accelerate clean energy transition in emerging markets

(IN BRIEF) Swedfund, a Swedish development finance institution, invested USD 30 million in the Mirova Gigaton Fund on March 1. The Mirova Gigaton Fund, launched by Mirova, a Natixis affiliate, aims to provide debt financing to clean energy projects in developing countries, specifically in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East. The fund, classified as “Article 9” under the framework of the new European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), aims to offset CO2 emissions, create jobs, advance gender equality, and improve energy access. The fund’s target size is USD 500 million, and it expects to deploy USD 1.2 billion of private debt throughout its life.

(PRESS RELEASE) STOCKHOLM, 22-Mar-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Swedfund, the Swedish Government’s development financier, announces that it has invested $30 million in the Mirova Gigaton Fund¹, according to an announcement on March 1. The investment aims to reach out to projects in developing countries and provide debt financing through a range of complementary solar energy solutions outside of the regular grid, known as off-grid solutions.

The Mirova Gigaton Fund, launched by Mirova, the affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investments, seeks to accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Latin America and the Middle East. The fund is targeting a size of $500 million and expects to deploy $1.2 billion of private debt primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in sectors such as solar home systems, agri-solar, commercial and industrial solar, telecom tower solarization, mini-grids, e-mobility, battery storage, climate-smart food systems, energy efficiency, and carbon credit pre-financing.

“Solar energy solutions are crucial to achieving the 2030 goal of universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy,” says Swedfund’s CEO Maria Håkansson.

As an “Article 9” classification under the framework of the new European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR²), the fund aims to impact people’s lives by offsetting CO2 emissions, creating jobs, advancing gender equality, and improving energy access. Swedfund is a long-standing partner of Mirova SunFunder and invested $12 million in the firm’s prior debt fund in 2020.

The investment is expected to support Mirova SunFunder’s mission to solve energy access and climate change challenges in frontier markets, primarily in Africa, by providing clean energy financing. Swedfund contributed to the fund’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects through guidance on the implementation of sustainability improvements, the hiring of an ESG and impact manager, and by providing technical assistance support to build an environmental and social management system and strengthen the fund’s gender equality work.

Facts about Mirova SunFunder

ABOUT MIROVA SUNFUNDER

Mirova SunFunder, formed by the acquisition of SunFunder by Mirova in June 2022, has closed more than USD230 million in debt financing to 59 solar borrowers in emerging markets, improving energy access for millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa*. Investments to date have been in the off-grid solar, mini-grid, productive use, C&I and telecom ESCO** sectors in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

*Mirova SunFunder as of December 2022.
** Energy System Company

ABOUT MIROVA

Mirova is a management company dedicated to sustainable investments and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers. Through conviction management, Mirova’s goal is to combine long-term value creation and sustainable development. Pioneers in many areas of sustainable finance, Mirova’s talents aim to continue innovating in order to offer their clients solutions with high environmental and social impact. Mirova has been active in the energy transition infrastructure sector for 20 years and has financed more than 330 projects for a total of over 6.5 GW of potential generation capacity across Europe and Asia. Reaffirming its position as a major European player in renewable energy, storage and low-carbon mobility, the company has recently completed the raising of €1.6 billion for its fifth energy transition infrastructure equity fund.

Mirova and its affiliates manage €27.2 billion and €3.3 billion for energy transition infrastructure investments as of December 31, 2022. Mirova is mission-driven company, labeled B Corp*.

*The reference to a ranking or a label does not prejudge the future performance of the funds or its managers