French development finance institution Proparco has committed $15 million to the African Transition Acceleration Fund (ATAF), becoming one of the first investors in the pan-African fund focused on climate infrastructure.
In a statement released on March 12, the subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement said the investment is part of a broader $200 million fundraising effort for the fund.
The move also reflects Proparco’s growing focus on Africa, which represented 47% of its activity in 2024, as the institution expands investments in technology, climate projects and small and medium-sized enterprises to improve access to capital.
The new fund will finance early-stage climate infrastructure projects through equity and quasi-equity investments.
It plans to support around 14 companies or infrastructure development platforms, with individual investments ranging from $10 million to $30 million. The initiative is sponsored and managed by asset manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers.
Don’t Miss This:
Nigeria Unveils $2 Billion Climate Fund Plan To Accelerate Energy Transition
The fund’s strategy will mainly target three areas tied to the energy transition: clean electricity, decarbonized molecules and sustainable transport.
According to the statement, the goal is to build project pipelines and accelerate the rollout of low-carbon infrastructure across Africa.
Proparco said the investment is intended to address the persistent lack of capital available for infrastructure projects during their early development stages.
“In Africa, one of the main obstacles to the energy transition remains the lack of capital available to develop projects upstream. By supporting ATAF from its first closing, Proparco helps structure an instrument capable of filling this gap and accelerating bankable climate infrastructure across the continent,” said Tibor Asboth.
The investment comes as Africa faces a major financing gap in the energy sector. In its report Financing Electricity Access in Africa, published in October 2025, the International Energy Agency said equity investments aimed at electricity access in Africa averaged $450 million per year between 2019 and 2023, but most of that funding went to mature companies and established markets.
The same report estimates that about $15 billion per year will be needed to achieve universal electricity access by 2035, highlighting the large shortage of capital available for projects in their early development stages.
Don’t Miss This:
Rockefeller, World Bank Fund Solar Projects Across Six African Countries To Boost Agriculture
Image Credit: Freepik
