ACTIS LLP, a UK-based private equity firm, was seeking energy projects in Africa including South Africa which has opened a new round of tendering for 2,000MW of electricity supply.
“We’re seeing some new opportunities that we’ve not yet approved,” Neil Brown, a partner and head of the Investor Development Group at Actis, told Bloomberg News in an interview. Actis has already invested $1bn in the sector on the continent, said the newswire.
It will bid as part of South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme.
Actis also plans to participate in the fifth round of bidding for the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme, Brown said. This could either be through new plants, such as solar and wind farms, or the firm could buy existing operating facilities that can be improved, he said.
South Africa, the continent’s most-industrialised economy, has battled power shortages since 2008 after the government failed to invest in new plants in time to replace ageing equipment and infrastructure, said Bloomberg News.
Actis has investments in about 25 power projects in countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique and Cameroon.
