Infinity Power, a joint venture between Masdar of the UAE and Infinity of Egypt, has purchased the entirety of Lekela Power, a wind power platform in Africa.
According to a statement by the company, this acquisition has made Infinity Power the largest renewable energy firm on the African continent. Lekela Power currently runs wind power projects with a total capacity of 1 GW in South Africa, Egypt, and Senegal, with a 1.8 GW project pipeline in various stages of development.
The acquisition was funded via shareholder equity investments as well as debt from Absa Corporate and Investment Banking and Mauritian Commercial Bank, with no financial details released. Mohamed Ismail Mansour, Chairman of Infinity Power, stated that following the purchase of Lekela, the firm aims to achieve its goal of installing and managing 2 GW of greenfield projects by 2025.
H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate, and Chairman of Masdar, stated: “Through our investment in Infinity Power, Masdar is able to extend its reach across Africa and support developing nations on their clean energy transitions.” He added that the acquisition will give Infinity Power greater scale to deploy practical climate solutions that deliver measurable outcomes, in line with the COP28 objective of being inclusive, transparent, pragmatic, and results-oriented.
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said that greater access to clean energy will enable African nations to develop their economies sustainably while meeting their climate objectives in alignment with COP28’s goal of delivering inclusive climate progress.
Infinity Power was formed in 2020 to develop utility-scale and distributed solar energy and wind power projects in Africa. Lekela Power was set up in 2015. Previously, Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, owned 60% and a consortium led by global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power owned 40% of Lekela. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates Africa’s installed renewable capacity to grow from 54 GW in 2020 to more than 530 GW by 2040.
