In brief: Blended finance manager handed $1.3bn infra mandate

Blended finance GP Climate Fund Managers has been appointed to manage The Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility, a fund launched by The Southern African Power Pool in partnership with the Southern African Development Community to invest in energy transmission in Southern Africa.

The facility, which launches with $20 million in commitments from SAPP, is aiming for a $500 million first close in 2025 and a final close of $1.3 billion within 24 months, according to a statement. It will comprise a $100 million target development fund to provide concessional capital and development expertise and a $1.2 billion target construction fund that will finance projects. The platform is open to both public and private sector investors.

The SAPP is a collection of national power utilities from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The SADC is a regional economic community comprised of 16 member states.

CFM manages a number of emerging market infrastructure funds focused on climate change: Climate Investor One, an $850 million fund focused on renewable energy, which closed in 2019; and Climate Investor Two, which launched in 2020 and is seeking $1 billion to invest in water, sanitation and oceans infrastructure. CFM also acts as fund manager for Gaia, a blended finance credit project led by Japanese mega-bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and development bank FinDev Canada that targets climate mitigation and adaptation projects in the Global South.