Multilateral financier plans $1B green energy investment

PIDG’s project pipeline could be seen as helping to fill a hole in renewable energy funding after the Trump administration pulled back. Private Infrastructure Development Group, a multilateral financier backed by several Western countries, is planning to invest about $1 billion a year in Africa and Asia until 2030, its CEO said. Philippe Valahu told Bloomberg the money would primarily be pumped into renewable energy. PIDG operates in 24 sub-Saharan African countries, including Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa. Valahu’s comments come as four of PIDG’s five funders — the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, and Sweden — trim their aid funding, raising concerns about how the group will sustain its pace of investment. The project pipeline could be seen as helping to fill a hole in renewable energy funding after the Trump administration shut down Power Africa — a government-led initiative aimed at doubling African electricity access — pulled its share of investment planned for South Africa’s just energy transition, and has pressed the World Bank to back gas.