Press releases

Zurich, 18 May, 2018 — The responsAbility-managed climate fund targeting emerging economies has seen a 48 % increase in funding commitments in 2017 which reached USD 500 m in early 2018, establishing the fund as an important player in the climate finance sector open to private investors. Total expected lifetime CO₂ reductions for all projects financed by the fund since inception reached 10 m tonnes.

Zurich, 10 April, 2018 — Two responsAbility-managed debt funds and d.light, a global leader in delivering affordable solar-powered solutions to households in emerging markets, have signed an agreement for a USD 10 m working capital loan. The financing is designed to help scale d.light’s pay-as-you-go solar home system business.

Zurich, London, Nairobi, 13 March, 2018 — A responsAbility-managed energy company focusing on Sub-Sahara Africa and Africa Growth and Energy Solutions (AGES) have signed an agreement to co-develop a 25 MW solar PV project in Sierra Leone’s Bo District. The project is to be built in two phases, with construction on a 5 MW plant intended to start in 2018.

Zurich, 6 February 2018 — Food security, the creation of employment and the promotion of CO2-conscious practices: These are the objectives of a new public-private partnership that has been established to give agricultural companies in developing countries access to the expertise they urgently require. A responsAbility investment fund for fair agriculture, in which the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has invested CHF 1 million to fund Technical Assistance, will establish links to the targeted companies through its network.

Zurich, 1 February, 2018 — responsAbility Investments AG, a leading investor in the field of development investments in emerging markets, announced that it has recently completely divested its equity investment in Financiera Confianza, one of the main microfinance institutions in Peru, by selling its stake to majority shareholder Fundación Microfinanzas BBVA (BBVA Microfinance Foundation).

Zurich, 15 January 2018 — A responsAbility-managed private equity vehicle focusing on agriculture and food has completed its first investment and taken a significant minority stake in Samunnati, an Indian Non Banking Financial Company. Using a unique cash-flow-based lending technology for value chains, Samunnati is providing affordable quality financial services for small and marginal farmers and small and medium-sized businesses active across the agriculture value chain.

Zurich, 14 December 2017 — A responsAbility-managed energy company, Norfund and Vineyard have teamed up to incorporate New Africa Power. The new energy joint venture plans to develop a 65 MW portfolio of small-scale run-of-the-river hydropower projects in Zambia.

Zurich, 6 December, 2017 — Development investments specialist responsAbility is dedicating its latest publication to the topic of green lending in developing countries, analysing the opportunity, risks and entry barriers for financial institutions on developing a loan product for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Zurich, 30 November 2017 — A responsAbility-managed energy fund focusing on facilitating energy access participates in a large multi-currency syndicated loan to provide scalable financing to West African solar company PEG Africa. The USD 13.5 m in funding, provided through a combination of debt and Series B equity financing, will be used to accelerate growth in Ghana and Ivory Coast where PEG Africa targets to reach 500,000 people.

Zurich, 21 November 2017 — The latest edition of responsAbility’s annual Micro and SME Finance Market Outlook highlights the potential of debt investments in micro and SME finance against the background of macroeconomic trends. An analysis of risk-return profiles shows that spreads for investments in microfinance portfolios are in line with or higher than those of securities rated Ba3 by Moody’s. This rating system and systematic impact measurement provide investors with transparency on micro and SME finance portfolios.