Under the agreement, Masdar will bring its technical expertise and extensive experience in emerging markets, while Africa50 brings its experience developing projects in Africa, which combined can help unlock Africa’s tremendous clean energy potential.

Masdar committed US$2 billion of equity as part of the UAE finance initiative, which was announced during the Africa Climate Summit by H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Chairman of Masdar and COP28 President-Designate. The initiative brings together public, private and development capital from UAE institutions, notably the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), Masdar and AMEA Power. Africa50 is expected to also join this initiative as a strategic partner.

H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar, and COP28 President-Designate, said, “The world must continue to close the gap on climate finance for clean energy investment in the global south, which is disproportionately affected by climate change. We need the public and private sectors to work together to deliver clean energy access across Africa — a key mission and objective of Africa50.

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Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said, “We are proud of our long-term partnerships and projects in Africa. Our portfolio today includes Senegal’s first utility-scale wind farm under Masdar’s Infinity Power Holding platform (IPH), Mauritania’s first and largest solar photovoltaic project, and the development of Africa’s largest wind farm in Egypt with IPH and other partners. With Africa50, Masdar looks forward to unlocking the enormous clean energy potential across the continent.”

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Masdar has committed a total of US$10 billion to clean energy finance, of which US$2 billion will be generated from equity, with an additional US$8 billion mobilized from project finance. This landmark investment will target the delivery of 10 GW of clean energy capacity in Africa by 2030.

Alain Ebobissé, Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, said, “Africa50 and Masdar will also explore opportunities to collaborate on the implementation of the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), which was launched at COP27 by the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and Africa50.

The UAE investment initiative sits under the umbrella of Etihad 7, a development platform launched by the UAE at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in 2022 and spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

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