• TDB Group achieved financial close on Burundi’s largest long-term project financing, providing debt funding for the construction of two hydropower projects that will supply over 62 GWh p.a. of clean, baseload electricity to the national grid annually
  • Songa Energy is a portfolio company of Anzana Electric Group and is one of the first Independent Power Producers in Burundi
  • The two power projects in construction, the 1.65 MW Upper Ruvyironza SHP and the 9.0 MW Upper Mulembwe SHP, both in South Central Burundi, will begin producing power for the grid in 2025 and 2027, respectively
  • The projects benefit from political risk insurance and payment guarantees from the African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (“ATIDI”)

Bujumbura – TDB Group and Anzana Electric Group (“Anzana”) announce the financial close and first utilization of a portfolio project debt package for two run-of-river hydropower projects in Burundi developed by Songa Energy. This USD 35 million 10.65MW long-term debt financing facility represents a first-of-its-kind transaction for Burundi, a market where only about 10% of the population have access to electricity. With less than 100 MW of operational generation capacity, the country’s capacity will be boosted by over 10% through this project alone.  Anzana is the sole equity investor in the projects, which were developed under the Public-Private Partnership framework in Burundi.

As a regional multilateral development finance institution, TDB plays a significant role in the electricity sector across Africa. This includes contributing to economic development through financing of renewable energy infrastructure, and facilitating partnerships between governments and private sector players. The Songa Energy projects represent a bright, new chapter in TDB’s support of private power projects in Burundi, home to one of the Bank’s principal offices.

In reaching this milestone, Anzana and TDB collaborated with key partners to enhance the long-term viability and bankability of the Songa Energy projects. This includes leveraging the African Trade & Investment Development Insurance’s (ATIDI) political risk insurance and payment guarantee, via the Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF), to mitigate risk and ensure a stable investment environment. These partnerships play a critical role in securing investor confidence, protecting project revenues, and creating a template to foster more sustainable energy development in Burundi.

The Government of Burundi has played a pivotal role in enabling the success of the Songa Energy projects by fostering a supportive policy and regulatory environment. Through active collaboration with Anzana and its partners, the government, including the ministries in charge of energy, finance, and environment, as well as Burundi’s Public-Private Partnership Unit and the Authority for Regulation of Water and Energy Sectors, has facilitated project approvals and licenses, ensured alignment with national electrification goals, and demonstrated strong commitment to expanding energy access.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Anzana on this landmark project, which is expected to have a substantial impact, expanding electricity access to over 100,000 Burundian households, supporting up to 500 jobs during peak construction periods, and bringing about knowledge transfer, while aligning with the climate agenda.” said Michael Awori, Trade and Development Banking Chief Executive.

"The Songa Energy projects represent a transformative step toward bringing affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity to Burundi. We're proud to lead this effort alongside TDB and our other partners and are grateful for the unwavering support of the Burundian government to create lasting impact for the country. We look forward to working to expand our partnership with TDB across the region" said Brian Kelly, Anzana CEO.

"Songa Energy’s mission is to empower Burundians by developing and implementing hydropower projects to reliably supply the national electricity grid. We are proud to be one of the first independent power producers in Burundi following the 2015 liberalization of the electricity sector, and our partnership with the Government of Burundi represents a transformative leap forward for Burundi and Burundians" said Dan Brose, Songa Energy Founder and CEO.

“Having previously announced our support for the 1.65 MW Upper Ruvyironza project with RLSF cover, this latest initiative builds on a trusted partnership that is driving transformative progress in Burundi’s energy sector. This collaboration on the Songa Energy projects underscores our shared commitment to delivering impactful renewable energy solutions across Africa. Working with Governments, investors and our financial and technical partners, we are not only helping to address critical energy needs, but also setting a benchmark for sustainable and inclusive development” said Manuel Moses, ATIDI CEO.

About TDB

Established in 1985, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is an investment-grade African regional development finance group, with the mandate to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration and sustainable development. With an asset base of USD 10 billion, TDB Group has 25 African member states, which alongside non-regional member countries and institutional investors from Africa, Europe and Asia, form TDB's community of shareholders.

TDB Group counts several subsidiaries and strategic business units including Trade and Development Banking, TDB Asset Management (TAM), Trade and Development Fund (TDF), TDB Captive Insurance Company (TCI), the ESATAL fund management company and TDB Academy.

www.tdbgroup.org

About Anzana Electric Group

Anzana is a Mauritius-based company developing, investing in, and operating baseload clean energy generation and electricity distribution networks in sub-Saharan Africa. The company has investments in a number of portfolio companies and projects across the region, including in Burundi, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and DRC. In addition to Songa Energy, it has also worked with the Government of Burundi to create a new Public-Private Partnership, Weza Power, focused on rapidly increasing electricity access across the country by investing in new grid expansion and operations. This partnership aims to mobilize over $1.4 billion to bring grid electricity access rates in Burundi from 12% to over 70% by 2030. Anzana is backed by Gridworks Development Partners, a British International Investment (the UK Government’s DFI) platform for investing in Transmission and Distribution projects in Africa.

https://www.anzana.com

About Songa Energy

Founded in 2015 by American-Burundian Daniel Brose, Songa Energy secured rights to two projects on the Mulembwe and Ruvyironza rivers and began development shortly thereafter. Songa Energy partnered with Virunga Power (which has since rebranded to Anzana) in 2019, bringing together a team with regional presence and equity capital to complete development. Construction on the first project began in mid-2023 and both projects will supply power to the national grid under respective Public-Private Partnership agreements for 25 years.

https://www.songaenergy.com

About ATIDI

ATIDI was founded in 2001 by African States to cover trade and investment risks of companies doing business in Africa. ATIDI predominantly provides Political Risk, Credit Insurance and, Surety Insurance. Since inception, ATIDI has supported USD85 billion worth of investments and trade into Africa. For over a decade, ATIDI has maintained an ‘A/Stable’ rating for Financial Strength and Counterparty Credit by Standard & Poor’s (S&P), and in 2019, ATIDI obtained an A3/Stable rating from Moody’s, which has now been revised to A3/Positive.

More about ATIDI: www.atidi.africa
Media registration link: https://www.atidi.africa/media-kit/

About the Regional Liquidity Support Facility (RLSF)

RLSF is a guarantee instrument provided by ATIDI to renewable energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that sell the electricity generated by their projects to state-owned power utilities, located in ATIDI member states that have signed the RLSF Memorandum of Understanding. RLSF was launched in 2017 by ATIDi and the German Development Bank, KfW Development Bank, with financing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); in 2022, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) committed additional funding towards its continued implementation. RLSF has a capacity of USD 153.7 million and supports small and mid-scale renewable energy projects with an installed capacity of up to 100 MW (larger projects can be considered on a case-by-case basis) by protecting the projects against the risk of delayed payments by public offtakers; in turn improving project bankability and ensuring that more projects reach financial close.