Sanlam backs African clean energy trader GreenCo with $10 million

Africa’s clean energy sector is moving beyond the construction of solar and wind projects.

Attention is increasingly turning to the systems that allow electricity to be traded more efficiently across borders and delivered to businesses that need reliable power. 

That change is attracting investors looking for opportunities in Africa’s growing electricity market.

Governments across the region continue to face pressure on public finances, leaving private investors to play a bigger role in funding energy infrastructure. 

Against that backdrop, Sanlam has invested $10 million in Africa GreenCo Group, taking a 10 percent stake in the company and becoming its first private institutional shareholder. 

The investment, announced on May 22, will support GreenCo’s expansion across Southern Africa, where demand for cleaner and more dependable electricity continues to rise among mines, manufacturers and large businesses.

Building a regional electricity market

GreenCo operates as an electricity trader within the Southern African Power Pool, buying renewable power from independent producers and selling it to utilities and commercial customers across the region. 

The company is licensed in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, with approval processes underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Its business model is designed to reduce one of the biggest risks facing renewable energy developers in Africa: uncertainty around long-term payments from financially strained utilities. 

By serving as an intermediary buyer, GreenCo helps renewable energy producers secure more dependable revenue while giving businesses additional options outside traditional state-owned power suppliers.

Demand grows for private power supply 

The company’s expansion comes as South Africa’s electricity market continues to change.

Rising tariffs, grid constraints and years of power shortages have pushed many companies to seek alternative electricity sources. 

At the same time, renewable energy developers are looking for more flexible ways to sell electricity beyond standard long-term power purchase agreements.

Energy traders are becoming increasingly important by linking multiple generators with different customers and helping balance supply and demand. 

GreenCo said it has traded more than 2 terawatt-hours of electricity and now holds the largest purchase-side share in the Southern African Power Pool’s competitive markets.

Institutional investors take notice 

For Sanlam Alternative Investments, the deal reflects growing confidence that electricity trading and renewable energy infrastructure can deliver long-term investment opportunities across Africa. 

The investment also highlights how private capital is becoming more involved in solving the region’s energy challenges as businesses seek stable electricity supplies to support economic growth and industrial activity.