PASH Global, an impact investor and developer of clean power projects that is majority owned by commodity trading firm Trafigura, has acquired a 49.9 percent share in the solar photovoltaic (pv) farm project in Mali being developed by independent renewable energy power producer Akuo Energy.

Located in the town of Kita, 180km west of Bamako, the solar pv farm project will have a total production capacity of 50 megawatts. When construction is completed in 2020, the project will become the largest solar farm in West Africa and one of the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) concession for the project was signed in 2015 on a 30-year basis with a 28-year power purchase agreement with national power company Energie du Mali (EdM). It is the first utility scale renewable project in Mali and was the brainchild of R20-Regions of Climate Action’ NGO founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The solar pv farm project is intended to generate social benefits including creating local and sustainable jobs for Malian people. At full capacity it is expected to provide over 91,700 households in Mali with green electricity and save more than 51,700 metric tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

“This is the first of a number of clean energy projects that PASH Global is looking to invest in across the globe. We are committed to building additional capacity in renewables and clean fuels across the African continent with strong and capable partners such as Akuo Energy,” said PASH founders Kofi Owusu Bempah and Vine Mwense.

“The Mali solar pv farm project provided an opportunity to invest in a well-developed project with experienced partners. It feels appropriate that our first solar investment will be in Africa,” said Robert Gillon, Senior Manager from Trafigura’s newly created Power and Renewables Trading Division.