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South Africa’s SolarAfrica Energy and Lagos-headquartered Starsight Energy have merged to create a pan-African renewable energy solutions provider. 

The combined entity has an installed and contracted portfolio of 520MW in solar power generation and 60 megawatt hours (MWh) of battery storage, along with more than 2GW of projects in the pipeline. 

The new entity will offer solar energy, battery storage, wheeling and energy management services to customers in its key markets of Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa. It will also look to expand into Tanzania and Uganda.

The merger was backed by London-based private equity investment firm Helios Investment Partners and Cape Town-headquartered financial services company African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM).

“The supply of renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa is relatively fragmented, with several suppliers in the market,” said Paul van Zijl, the new group chief executive officer, at the event announcing the merger. “This merger will provide a pan-African platform to deliver renewable energy in key economies.” 

With regard to operational structure, the merged entity plans to maintain operations in each of its current markets, with teams consisting of dedicated in-country management personnel as well as sales and technical experts.

“It’s important to have strong representation in each geography with teams who know and understand their markets and are passionate about transforming them into green energy hubs,” said Charl Alheit, the new group chief investment officer.

The intention to merge was announced in September 2022.

A group spokesperson confirmed to ConstructAfrica that there will be no change to the names of the operating entities: "There is no newly named group entity. Each company within the group (Starsight Energy, SPEG and SolarAfrica) retain their name as they operate with an existing strong brand and reputation in their respective regions. We thus refer to ‘the merged group’ when talking about the group as a whole."

Photo: Solar array (Source: SolarAfrica)