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Access to energy for 2 million more people by 2020 thanks to three new investments by ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies

By ENGIE - 27 July 2017 - 12:00

Access to energy for 2 million more people by 2020 thanks to three new investments by ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies

With ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies making three new investments in Latin America, India, and Cambodia, nearly 2 million people will have access to clean, sustainable energy by 2020.

Announcing the investments, Paulo Almirante, Executive Vice President with responsibilities including corporate and social responsibility and president of ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies, declared, "Through its social impact investment fund Rassembleurs d'Energies, ENGIE progresses on its commitment to fight against energy poverty by providing access to sustainable energy to deprived populations. Not only does it generate a huge impact through the action of the local entrepreneurs it supports but it also rallies new investors in financing the tremendous needs of these industries. These three new investments will contribute to ENGIE’s goal of providing 20 million people around the world with access to sustainable, decentralized energy by 2020."

 

In Latin America, ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies is expanding its portfolio by investing in KINGO, a company that specializes in access to clean energy in Latin America and Africa. KINGO offers individual solar electrification solutions to people in Guatemala who are not connected to the grid. Currently, through its network of 700 local agents, the company provides electrical access to more than 170,000 beneficiaries by equipping them with decentralized photovoltaic equipment using “pay as you go” technology. KINGO supports its customers by maintaining the installed systems and responding to changes in their needs over time. The investment, made jointly with development banks Proparco (1) and FMO (2) as well as other local social impact investors, should enable the company to bring electricity to more than 1.5 million people by the end of the decade.

 

In India, ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies is supporting Mera Gao Power (MGP) in a new round of fundraising. MGP offers solar microgrids to unconnected rural populations in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. After an initial investment in 2015 that enabled MGP to electrify more than 1,800 villages and serve nearly 115,000 beneficiaries, Rassembleurs d’Energies has agreed to join European fund ElectriFI and social impact investor Insitor in a second investment. This round of financing will allow the company to accelerate its roll-out over the next two years and serve more than 700,000 beneficiaries by 2020.

 

In Cambodia, ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies is participating in the first round of financing for ATEC, a company that produces and distributes biodigesters. The company, created by 2 Australian NGOs (Engineers Without Borders and Live and Learn), designed and developed the biodigesters, which can withstand floods, for use by rural populations. The aim is to provide them with clean cooking solutions and biofertilizers while fighting deforestation, one of the biggest challenges for the region. This joint investment, alongside 2 Australian social impact investment funds and the Ensemble Foundation, will allow ATEC to serve more than 50,000 beneficiaries in Cambodia and the surrounding region by 2020. It is the first investment by ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies in Southeast Asia.

 

The invested sums in these 3 projects come from the ENGIE funding, increased to €50 million in 2016, and from the ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies FCPE (employee investment fund), through which more than 18,000 shareholders have been able to give meaning to their savings in connection with their profession.

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ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies has earned a Platinum rating from GIIRS (3) (Global Impact Investing Rating System) for its general impact business model. This rating recognizes the quality of its governance and its own reporting, and above all the reliability and transparency of the corporate and environmental reporting of companies within its portfolio. The rating, which is earned by only 20% of the companies assessed by GIIRS, attests to the care with which Rassembleurs d’Energies evaluates its impact and will help it continue to improve by calibrating to its peers

About ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies

ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Énergies is ENGIE’s social impact investment fund that invests in projects to provide access to sustainable energy for insecure populations. The mission of the fund is to invest in economically viable social projects sponsored by social entrepreneurs. The fund manages a portfolio of 18 companies active on 4 continents that employ 1,500 people and provide access to clean electricity for more than 1.5 million people as of the end of June.

 

About ENGIE

ENGIE develops its businesses (power, natural gas, energy services) around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy’s transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation and adaptation and the rational use of resources. The Group provides individuals, cities and businesses with highly efficient and innovative solutions largely based on its expertise in four key sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technology. ENGIE employs 153,090 people worldwide and achieved revenues of €66.6 billion in 2016. The Group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI) and is represented in the main international indices: CAC 40, CAC 40 Governance, BEL 20, DJ Euro Stoxx 50, Euronext 100, FTSE Eurotop 100, MSCI Europe, DJSI World, DJSI Europe and Euronext Vigeo (World 120, Eurozone 120, Europe 120 and France 20).

 

 

(1) Proparco is the AFD subsidiary specializing in private sector funding. It is a financial institution for development whose aim is to finance socially equitable, environmentally sustainable, and financially profitable initiatives.
(2) FMO is the Dutch development bank.
(3) GIIRS: Global Impact Investing Rating System: certification awarded to social impact investors that provide exhaustive, transparent, independent, and verifiable reporting.