The Renewable Energy Performance Platform’s (REPP) investment period came to an end in 2023, closing a chapter that started in 2015 when REPP was established, initially as a provider of technical assistance facilities, and later expanding to include the provision of project financing to developers of renewable energy projects in West, Central, East and Southern Africa. REPP set out to create a pathway for renewable energy project development, thereby reducing carbon emissions while supporting infrastructure development in a region significantly undersupplied with power, providing a foundation for growth and prosperity. Accordingly, from its inception to the end of its investment period, REPP supported 50 projects. While REPP’s role has evolved from funding projects to realising its investments, its impact continues to be felt.

In 2025, Ilute Solar Limited, a solar PV project in Zambia that was conceived and developed by an early REPP investee, Buffalo Energy Limited, reached financial close, becoming the 31st REPP-supported project to do so. REPP anticipates that Anzana Electric Group (Anzana) will achieve financial close on another of its projects in 2026. Anzana was also an early REPP investee, with REPP having provided technical assistance funding for two of its projects as early as 2017.

As a result of REPP’s funding and support, 38.8MW of installed renewable energy capacity has been installed, with growth driven by Anzana’s run-of-river project, Mulembwe, coming online and additional capacity added by off-grid companies Mobile Power Ltd and GVE Projects Ltd. REPP is hopeful that two of its supported projects will become operational in 2026, resulting in a further 5MW of capacity coming on stream. One of the projects is Goma II, whose progress is all the more notable given that the developer, Congo Energy Solutions Limited which trades as Nuru, remained operational despite the outbreak of conflict in Kivu, the eastern DRC province in which the project is located. The company also resumed construction work in a highly constrained environment made tougher by the physical challenges of constructing infrastructure atop volcanic rock.

As REPP works with its investee companies to realise its investments, it has also been collating the lessons learned over its first decade. These lessons have been captured by considering five themes: influencing the industry; influencing policy; building internal capacities and advancing project development; investing and deal structuring; and supporting national policy priorities. We have shared in this report a summary of some of the lessons learned working with mini-grid and solar home system operators. The full suite of reports will be published on REPP’s website and made available to the public in due course.

It is clear that developing renewable energy projects in frontier markets is challenging and that it takes time and patience for the work to translate into tangible results: the delivery of more than 1.5m new connections and the mitigation of 213ktCO2e. It also entails vision and resilience to remain focused in the face of substantial challenges. Every achievement creates a pathway for others to follow. REPP’s substantial contribution and impact will continue to reverberate in the years to come as the renewable energy sector in Africa expands and grows, as industry pioneers translate their learnings into more effective processes, and as newcomers benefit from the opportunities created by those pioneers. This will build further momentum across the sector, resulting in more capacity being created and more people benefitting from access to electricity while limiting the environmental impact of development.

The patience and vision that have underpinned REPP’s engagement in African renewable energy have been made possible thanks to the foresight of its supporters at the UN Environment Programme and the European Investment Bank, and the steadfast and committed financial support of the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.