Anzana Electric Group (“Anzana”) has raised a $20 million senior secured portfolio debt facility from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, to accelerate the construction of run-of-river hydropower projects across Africa.
Run-of-river hydropower projects in Africa can play an important role in expanding access to electricity. But smaller projects under 10MW often struggle to secure long-term debt financing. This facility is designed to reduce the high upfront costs and long timelines that usually come with arranging project-specific financing.
The BII facility will provide construction financing to Anzana’s well-developed hydropower portfolio, focused on small- and medium-scale plants with potential solar hybridisation, in East, Central and Southern Africa.
Through this facility, Anzana expects to unlock 10MW of newly installed distributed baseload generation capacity by 2030, generating an estimated 50+ GWh of clean electricity annually for national and regional power grids and high-demand centres. The first project will be located in Zambia. If successful, Anzana plans to build on this approach so that future projects in its pipeline can also be financed more efficiently.
Anzana’s operating model spans project development, generation, distribution and interconnection, serving both community users and commercial and industrial customers with reliable power delivery. The portfolio is expected to create over 500 jobs during construction and operations, while expanding electricity access and supporting economic activity across the targeted regions.
Chris Chijiutomi, Managing Director and Head of Africa at British International Investment, said, “Africa faces a significant energy access gap, with nearly 600 million people without electricity. We’re committed to working with partners like Anzana to support Mission 300 and provide electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. Through this financing, we’re helping countries transition to renewable power, strengthen electricity networks, and deliver clean, reliable energy to millions of households.”
“This facility is an important milestone for Anzana as we scale our platform across Africa and expand on our close partnership with BII. Through an end-to-end model spanning generation and distribution, including customer connections, we ensure consistent reliability and quality across the full power value chain. Our focus on strong governance, disciplined execution, and strategic corridor development allows us to deliver power where it is needed most while supporting national government objectives for sustained long-term economic growth,” said Brian Kelly, Anzana Electric Group’s CEO.
Structured as an innovative portfolio-level senior secured facility, the financing enables capital to be deployed across multiple project companies in various countries, accelerating delivery across Anzana’s pipeline. It strengthens the company’s ability to bring projects to market faster, expand across priority energy corridors, and meet growing demand for reliable electricity across African economies.