THANK YOU

Congratulations to the 2022 winners. Stay tuned for updates on the next steps.

Bring your renewable energy project to life

‘Umoja’ is Swahili for unity and a symbol of our goal to give aspiring renewable energy developers in sub-Saharan Africa the tools they need to successfully complete their projects. The incubator will allow you to gain access to funding and global networks along with commercial and technical knowledge.

Project Funding
Receive financing and construction opportunities for your project from Serengeti Energy.

Global Networks
Connect to renewable energy market leaders by tapping into Serengeti Energy’s vast resources.

African Impact
Be a part of the renewable energy movement and empower Africa for a brighter tomorrow.

Training & Workshops
Grow your skills and deepen your knowledge in the renewable energy industry with world-class trainers and resources.

  • Project Funding
    Receive financing and construction opportunities for your project from Serengeti Energy.

  • Global Networks
    Connect to renewable energy market leaders by tapping into Serengeti Energy’s vast resources.

  • African Impact
    Be a part of the renewable energy movement and empower Africa for a brighter tomorrow.

  • Training & Workshops
    Grow your skills and deepen your knowledge in the renewable energy industry with world-class trainers and resources.

Who Can Apply

Hydro Power

Solar Power

Wind Power

Umoja Incubator Entry and
Eligibility Criteria

There is a strong opportunity of investing in renewable energy across sub-Saharan Africa. Although Africa has an enormous renewable energy potential and many local developers have already identified suitable sites, the lack of experience or development capital hinders meaningful project development. The Umoja Incubator addresses this situation by linking up strong early-stage renewable energy projects with access to development capital. Serengeti Energy has a solid ground presence, strong market knowledge and track record in developing and bringing renewable energy projects to markets. The Private Financing Advisory Network has been supporting renewable energy developers with advisory services to accelerate their development. Let’s come together and scale renewable energy across Africa.

In order to be eligible to participate in the incubator program, the project you present must adhere to the following rules:

  • Be submitted by its owner(s) or (jointly “owners”) or by its/their representatives
  • Be located in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
  • Not be located in a protected area as defined by IFC Performance Standard 6 and IUCN
  • Use renewable energy technology (wind, solar and hydro only) with a size between 3MW-50MW and limited to a maximum of 25MW for hydro power projects
  • Have passed the “idea stage” and at a minimum an MOU or EOI
  • Have a viable offtake strategy and be located in a country with policies and regulations allowing IPPs
  • Up to 30MW for hydro with little or small community impact as possible
Meet The Judges

A panel with deep expertise in renewable energy markets

Executive Vice President, GreenStream Network

Aleksi Lumijärvi

An energy transition and climate finance expert with nearly 20 years of experience in investment and financing. Aleksi has been a consultant and a financial advisor for international financing institutions and organizations like IRENA and NDF. He has also worked on a couple of clean energy finance-related assignments for ADB. His experience covers both developed and developing countries.

During the most recent four years at NDF Aleksi has been mostly involved with energy transition/energy access fund investments (private equity and private debt), but also a few direct investments in the clean energy sector. Aleksi was also a rAREH/Serengeti board member from Nov 2018 to May 2021, and is currently representing NDF as a shareholder in Serengeti.

CEO Xina Solar One, ENGIE

Desnei Leaf-Camp

For over 20 years, Ms Leaf-Camp has been involved in “powering” the development of Africa through enhanced access to affordable capital and access to safe and reliable electricity. One of the forerunners in the IPP business in Africa, Desnei has worked for both IPPs and financial institutions raising over USD2 billion in financing for renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, plus an additional USD170 million for non-energy related projects.

Ms. Leaf-Camp, who is currently engaged with ENGIE as the CEO of Xina Solar One, which owns a 100MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Amassing over 10 years in developing power projects, she is actively involved in the asset management side by taking responsibility for the plants delivering clean and reliable electricity to the people of South Africa, uplifting local communities through the technical and financial support of social and environmental projects, and ensuring shareholders receive a good return on their investment. Desnei has also worked for the AES Corporation in the United States and Cennergi, a South African IPP. Between 2003 and 2010 she spent time as a Development Banker, first with the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and then with the International Finance Corporation, where she leveraged her power sector and regional experience to deepen access to limited recourse financing for infrastructure projects.

Until recently, Desnei had been focusing on raising awareness and capital for distributed energy for corporate and industrial clients as well as off-grid power at the household and village level. She believes that while there has been a growing interest from IPPs, EPC’s and financial institutions, a replicable, profitable model remains an attractive challenge for the African continent. Challenges notwithstanding, Desnei remains positive about the impactful developmental role of affordable and sustainable electricity that can be generated through private sector participation while never losing sight of the responsibility of government, business and the financial community as this is crucial inaccelerating the transition of the energy sector in a manner that is both just for all members of society and sustainable for the planet.

Founding Member, Sustainable Links

Janice Kotut Sang

Janice Kotut-Sang is a founding member of Sustainable Links, which aims to mobilise capital towards Climate solutions with a gender lens.

Janice is a member of the Kenya Public Private Partnership, (PPP), Petition Committee which hears and determines petitions regarding decisions made by the PPP Committee, Directorate or Contracting Authority. She also sits on the Board of the Nairobi International Financial Centre and on the Investment Committee of the Africa Local Currency Bond Fund.

Janice was previously Managing Director, PIDG Infrasolutions, which was set up as a GuarantCo initiative to be a pathfinder, arranger and collaborator aimed at mainstreaming local currency finance for infrastructure projects in frontier markets, improving the affordability of infrastructure projects and developing local capital markets in lower income countries across Africa and Asia.

She also brings with her banking experience with Standard Chartered where she worked in Asia, UK and in Kenya with a varied number of roles in business strategy and origination.

Janice has also spent four years running a floriculture operation in Kenya.

Janice has a LLB from Warwick University and a LLM from King’s College London and an Executive MBA with the Said Business School, Oxford University.

Power & Infrastructure Specialist, PROPARCO

Medjo Yolande Wafo

Medjo Yolande Wafo is the Power & Infrastructure Specialist at PROPARCO’s Regional Office for West Africa, based in Abidjan. In this role, she leads the identification of infrastructure projects developed in the region likely to be financed by PROPARCO.

With nearly 10 years of experience in the field of project finance and capital markets, Medjo has participated in the financing of large-scale projects in the sectors of electricity production from renewable energies (solar, wind, hydro) and infrastructure (transport, water and sanitation, and biomass), particularly in Africa and the Middle East.

Medjo is an economist statistician who graduated from ENSAE ParisTech and holds a Master in Finance and Strategy from the Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris). Medjo also has an entrepreneurial spirit and has invested in several projects.

Global Coordinator, PFAN

Peter Storey

Peter Storey is the Global Coordinator of the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) and Director of Investment & Strategy at the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA).

He is an expert specialized in international financing solutions in developing countries and transition economies with significant expertise in climate change and clean and renewable energy as well as other infrastructure sectors. He has over 20 years of experience in working on multi-disciplinary advisory and financing mandates and of structuring and developing projects.

Development Director, Serengeti Energy

Wilfred van den Bos

Mr. Van den Bos is the Development Director at Serengeti Energy. He and his team are responsible for (business) development, investment structuring and all other aspects required to bring the renewable energy projects to the stage of financial close (start construction).

Mr. Van den Bos has 15yrs of development, investment, and structured finance experience in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East. Before joining Serengeti Energy in 2017 he has been working for 10yrs at the Dutch Development Bank FMO where he has been responsible for mobilizing over USD 1 billion of senior- and subordinated debt funding for over more than 32 (renewable) energy projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

He is driven by a passion for sustainable energy development – by this he strives to have a positive impact on the quality of life in emerging markets. He is recognized for his professional and pragmatic ‘can do’ mentality. He has a strong track record in closing transactions and managing teams.

Aleksi Lumijärvi

Executive Vice President, GreenStream Network

An energy transition and climate finance expert with nearly 20 years of experience in investment and financing. Aleksi has been a consultant and a financial advisor for international financing institutions and organizations like IRENA and NDF. He has also worked on a couple of clean energy finance-related assignments for ADB. His experience covers both developed and developing countries.

During the most recent four years at NDF Aleksi has been mostly involved with energy transition/energy access fund investments (private equity and private debt), but also a few direct investments in the clean energy sector. Aleksi was also a rAREH/Serengeti board member from Nov 2018 to May 2021, and is currently representing NDF as a shareholder in Serengeti.

Desnei Leaf-Camp

CEO Xina Solar One, ENGIE

For over 20 years, Ms Leaf-Camp has been involved in “powering” the development of Africa through enhanced access to affordable capital and access to safe and reliable electricity. One of the forerunners in the IPP business in Africa, Desnei has worked for both IPPs and financial institutions raising over USD2 billion in financing for renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, plus an additional USD170 million for non-energy related projects.

Ms. Leaf-Camp, who is currently engaged with ENGIE as the CEO of Xina Solar One, which owns a 100MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Amassing over 10 years in developing power projects, she is actively involved in the asset management side by taking responsibility for the plants delivering clean and reliable electricity to the people of South Africa, uplifting local communities through the technical and financial support of social and environmental projects, and ensuring shareholders receive a good return on their investment. Desnei has also worked for the AES Corporation in the United States and Cennergi, a South African IPP. Between 2003 and 2010 she spent time as a Development Banker, first with the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and then with the International Finance Corporation, where she leveraged her power sector and regional experience to deepen access to limited recourse financing for infrastructure projects.

Until recently, Desnei had been focusing on raising awareness and capital for distributed energy for corporate and industrial clients as well as off-grid power at the household and village level. She believes that while there has been a growing interest from IPPs, EPC’s and financial institutions, a replicable, profitable model remains an attractive challenge for the African continent. Challenges notwithstanding, Desnei remains positive about the impactful developmental role of affordable and sustainable electricity that can be generated through private sector participation while never losing sight of the responsibility of government, business and the financial community as this is crucial inaccelerating the transition of the energy sector in a manner that is both just for all members of society and sustainable for the planet.

Janice Kotut Sang

Founding Member, Sustainable Links

Janice Kotut-Sang is a founding member of Sustainable Links, which aims to mobilise capital towards Climate solutions with a gender lens.

Janice is a member of the Kenya Public Private Partnership, (PPP), Petition Committee which hears and determines petitions regarding decisions made by the PPP Committee, Directorate or Contracting Authority. She also sits on the Board of the Nairobi International Financial Centre and on the Investment Committee of the Africa Local Currency Bond Fund.

Janice was previously Managing Director, PIDG Infrasolutions, which was set up as a GuarantCo initiative to be a pathfinder, arranger and collaborator aimed at mainstreaming local currency finance for infrastructure projects in frontier markets, improving the affordability of infrastructure projects and developing local capital markets in lower income countries across Africa and Asia.

She also brings with her banking experience with Standard Chartered where she worked in Asia, UK and in Kenya with a varied number of roles in business strategy and origination.

Janice has also spent four years running a floriculture operation in Kenya.

Janice has a LLB from Warwick University and a LLM from King’s College London and an Executive MBA with the Said Business School, Oxford University.

Medjo Yolande Wafo

Power & Infrastructure Specialist, PROPARCO

Medjo Yolande Wafo is the Power & Infrastructure Specialist at PROPARCO’s Regional Office for West Africa, based in Abidjan. In this role, she leads the identification of infrastructure projects developed in the region likely to be financed by PROPARCO.

With nearly 10 years of experience in the field of project finance and capital markets, Medjo has participated in the financing of large-scale projects in the sectors of electricity production from renewable energies (solar, wind, hydro) and infrastructure (transport, water and sanitation, and biomass), particularly in Africa and the Middle East.

Medjo is an economist statistician who graduated from ENSAE ParisTech and holds a Master in Finance and Strategy from the Institut des Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris). Medjo also has an entrepreneurial spirit and has invested in several projects.

Peter Storey

Global Coordinator, PFAN

Peter is specialized in financing in developing countries and transition economies with significant expertise in renewable energy as well as other infrastructure sectors.

He is the Global Coordinator of PFAN and has over 20 years of experience of working on multi-disciplinary advisory and financing mandates and of structuring and developing projects.

Wilfred van den Bos

Development Director, Serengeti Energy

Mr. Van den Bos is the Development Director at Serengeti Energy. He and his team are responsible for (business) development, investment structuring and all other aspects required to bring the renewable energy projects to the stage of financial close (start construction).

Mr. Van den Bos has 15yrs of development, investment, and structured finance experience in Africa, Asia and the Middle-East. Before joining Serengeti Energy in 2017 he has been working for 10yrs at the Dutch Development Bank FMO where he has been responsible for mobilizing over USD 1 billion of senior- and subordinated debt funding for over more than 32 (renewable) energy projects in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

He is driven by a passion for sustainable energy development – by this he strives to have a positive impact on the quality of life in emerging markets. He is recognized for his professional and pragmatic ‘can do’ mentality. He has a strong track record in closing transactions and managing teams.

The 2022 Incubator Programme

The Incubator Programme, dubbed the ‘Umoja Incubator’, invites aspiring developers in the renewable energy industry who have big ideas but lack the experience or financial capabilities to submit their proposals to the Serengeti initiative.
The submitted proposals will be evaluated by the jury between June and September 2022.
The winning project(s) will enter into a partnership with Serengeti Energy. Our goal is to give them the tools needed to succeed and positively impact their communities and these include access to commercial and technical knowledge, and eventually funding.

Our Partnership

The partnership between Serengeti Energy and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is based on shared values and the common goal to provide clean and renewable energy to sub-Saharan Africa.
Serengeti Energy has a strong track record in operating power plants across the continent and will have operational plants in five countries by the end of 2022. PFAN has supported more than 185 projects to attract investment since 2006 and thus leveraged over USD 2 billion in clean energy financing.
Through the incubator, both parties will focus on their respective strengths to provide expert advice as well as access to development capital to the accepted projects.

Delivering clean affordable
power for Africa

We are an Independent Power Producer based in Nairobi that develops small and medium-sized renewable energy projects up to 50MW in sub-Saharan Africa at various stages of the project life cycle (development, construction, and operations).
We currently operate 48.8MW of plants in Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa. We also have plants totalling to 27MW under construction in Malawi and Sierra Leone.
An Ambitious Target for 2029
We plan to reach a total of 300 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2029 across sub-Saharan Africa.

Visit the Serengeti Energy website

Bridging the gap between
entrepreneurs and investors

PFAN was established in 2006 and is currently hosted by UNIDO and REEEP (The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership) with headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
The Private Financing Advisory Network is a global network of climate and clean energy financing experts, which offers free business coaching and investment facilitation to entrepreneurs developing climate and clean energy projects in emerging markets.
Our goals are to build clean energy markets one business at a time, mitigate climate change and mobilise private investment in support of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Visit the PFAN website

  • The 2022 Incubator Programme

    The Incubator Programme, dubbed the ‘Umoja Incubator’, invites aspiring developers in the renewable energy industry who have big ideas but lack the experience or financial capabilities to submit their proposals to the Serengeti initiative.
    The submitted proposals will be evaluated by industry judges between June and September 2022.
    The winning project(s) will enter into a partnership with Serengeti Energy. Our goal is to give them the tools needed to succeed and positively impact their communities and these include access to commercial and technical knowledge, and eventually funding.

  • Our Partnership

    The partnership between Serengeti Energy and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is based on shared values and the common goal to provide clean and renewable energy to sub-Saharan Africa.
    Serengeti Energy has a strong track record in operating power plants across the continent and will have operational plants in five countries by the end of 2022. PFAN has supported more than 185 projects to attract investment since 2006 and thus leveraged over USD 2 billion in clean energy financing.
    Through the incubator, both parties will focus on their respective strengths to provide expert advice as well as access to development capital to the accepted projects.
  • About Serengeti Energy

    Delivering clean affordable
    power for Africa

    We are an Independent Power Producer based in Nairobi that develops small and medium-sized renewable energy projects up to 50MW in sub-Saharan Africa at various stages of the project life cycle (development, construction, and operations).
    We currently operate 48.8MW of plants in Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa. We also have plants totalling to 27MW under construction in Malawi and Sierra Leone.
    An Ambitious Target for 2029
    We plan to reach a total of 300 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2029 across Africa.

    Visit the Serengeti Energy website

  • About The Private Financing Advisory Network

    Bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and investors

    PFAN was established in 2006 and is currently hosted by UNIDO and REEEP (The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership) with headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
    The Private Financing Advisory Network is a global network of climate and clean energy financing experts, which offers free business coaching and investment facilitation to entrepreneurs developing climate and clean energy projects in emerging markets.
    Our goals are to build clean energy markets one business at a time, mitigate climate change and mobilise private investment in support of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Visit the PFAN website

How Can We Help You?

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the selection process made?

Project developers can apply online. Projects needs to pass certain evaluation criteria to be eligible. An independent jury will be tasked to evaluate the projects, and shortlisted applicants will be invited to participate at a physical workshop in Cape Town where the winners will be selected and announced.

Who can apply?

The application is open to any company with projects in sub Saharan Africa.

How long is the application period?

Applications will be open for a period of 6-8 weeks, after which the jury will evaluate the applications over a four-week period to determine the successful candidates for the programme.

When is the application deadline?

All application documents must be submitted by September 23rd, 2022, 23:59 EAT.

How can I apply?

You can upload your application documents online. The application checklist can be found here.

Do the projects have to be at a specific implementation stage?

Yes. Projects needs to have passed the “idea stage” and at minimum an MOU or EOI with a government authority such as MOE or Utility in place.

How will my application be reviewed?

Our jury will review your application. All documents will be treated as confidential and only shared between the members of the jury who will critically evaluate them.