news - FMO and BIX Capital Provide USD 10 mln Facility to C-Quest Capital To Support Clean Cooking Activities

BIX Capital and FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, is jointly providing a USD 10 mln facility to C-Quest Capital to further strengthen its Clean Cooking activities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

For many years, BIX Capital has provided loans to C-Quest Capital (CQC), a successful social impact project developer providing transformational carbon projects, including clean cooking – which improves the livelihoods of families at the Base of Pyramid.  

This new USD 10 million facility will enable CQC to further invest in its clean cooking programme in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As a result of funding from this facility and other sources of capital, a total of 7 million households will receive CQC’s double cookstoves by 2026, reaching c.28 million people in over 15 SSA countries including Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania and Angola. Furthermore, this investment will deliver substantial Climate Impact: the total GHG avoided until 2026 will accumulate to 140 million tCO₂e.

Photo Credit: CQC

According to the latest IEA data, more than 2.6 billion people lack access to clean cooking , relying instead on firewood, kerosene or coal as their primary cooking fuel.  The lack of access to clean cooking remains very acute in sub-Saharan Africa where the number of people without access is increasing as population growth outpaces provision efforts. Almost 490,000 annual premature deaths are related to household air pollution from the lack of access to clean cooking solutions, with women and children the worst affected. Forest degradation and deforestation is another serious consequence of the unsustainable harvesting of fuelwood.

FMO has been a cornerstone investor in BIX Capital since 2018 and has supported in BIX’s Carbon Receivables Finance proposition.  FMO provides the funding to both BIX and CQC through the Access to Energy Fund (‘AEF’), a fund FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

BIX brought FMO to the table to realize the first co-investment opportunity between the two parties. By partnering with BIX and CQC, FMO has closed an impactful investment in the Clean Cooking sector, an important subsector within FMO’s Energy strategy.

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About BIX Capital

BIX Capital B.V. is  an Investment Vehicle based in the Netherlands, which is a partnership of  FOUNT (www.fount.eu), Cardano Development (www.cardanodevelopment.com) and the Shell Foundation (shellfoundation.org).   Since inception in 2016 BIX Capital has fully deployed its available capital and supported 10 social enterprises with a unique in-house developed Carbon Receivable Finance instrument. The resulting investor returns, both in terms of impact and financial values, are confirming the envisioned risk return profile and are still accumulating.   BIX Capital has reached over 13 million people in the Base of the Pyramid and avoided over two million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.  Currently BIX II is being launched with the support of current investors, fostering the successful track record and the expert team with in-depth knowledge of the market of tradable SDG impact credits and outcomes. This provides an opportunity for institutional and impact investors to further scale social and environmental (SDG) impact at the BoP.  For more information: please visit www.bixcapital.nl.

About C-Quest Capital

C-Quest Capital is a world leading carbon project developer with a track record of delivering transformative carbon projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East and South Asia, and Central America. CQC’s mission is to catalyze a sustained transition to a climate resilient future for communities whose health and economic welfare is at risk from climate change. Our activities focus on the distributed energy and land use sectors: providing access to sustainable and clean energy solutions, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating global climate change, and improving the health and wellbeing of women and children. CQC was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Washington D.C., USA, with subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, and on-the-ground teams in Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Cambodia, and active carbon projects in over 17 countries. For more information on C-Quest Capital, please visit www.cquestcapital.com