The leadership teams of Herbert Smith Freehills' Africa Practice, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and ProsperETÉ held a virtual roundtable discussion on 19 May 2025, which considered the current landscape of distributed renewable energy (DRE) in Africa, and presented the ISA’s Africa Solar Facility (ASF), to be managed by Africa50, as an exemplar to unlock much needed financing for DRE in Africa.

Esteemed speakers discussed various aspects of clean energy deployment and financing on the continent, in particular, to expand energy access and reach as many of the 600 million people on the continent who lack access to electricity and various initiatives, including the ASF which is aimed at bridging key financing gaps by mitigating project risks and attracting commercial capital into distributed solar projects in Africa.

Confirmed Speakers Included:

Agnes Dasewicz, Chief Investment Officer, GEAPP
Alain Ebobissé, CEO, Africa50
Andrew Herscowitz, CEO, Mission 300 (M300) Accelerator, The Rockefeller Foundation
Anita George, CEO, ProsperETÉ
Ashish Khanna, Director General, International Solar Alliance
Martin Kavanagh, Chair, Africa Practice, Herbert Smith Freehills
Rachel Kyte, CMG, UK Special Representative for Climate
Rachel Moré-Oshodi, CEO, ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment Ltd
Yusuf Umar, CEO, RIPLE (NSIA's Renewable Investment Platform) & Co-GP Nigeria DRE PlatformModerator:

Raïssa Bambara, Senior Associate, Herbert Smith Freehills

The recording of the webinar can be found here


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Key contacts

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Martin Kavanagh

Partner, Head of Projects, Energy and Infrastructure, UK and EMEA, London

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Jean Meijer

Managing Partner, Johannesburg Office, Johannesburg