US Nonprofit Plans $250 Million Africa Fund For Solar Firms (1)

The world’s biggest climate fund is backing Acumen, a US-based company that promotes universal energy access, in establishing a $250 million facility to bring electricity from off-grid solar projects to 72 million people in some of Africa’s poorest countries.

The Hardest-to-Reach Initiative will cover 16 countries ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Somalia across a continent where about half of the population have no access to electricity, according to Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen’s chief executive officer. In the countries targeted 506 million people aren’t connected to electrical grids.

The Incheon, South Korea-based Green Climate Fund will contribute $65 ...