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World Bank building

MIGA’s goal is to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth and more.

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Hands husking peas into a basket full of peas

Learn about the progress MIGA is making in its mission to support economic growth, reduce poverty and improve people’s lives.

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Explore different types of political risk insurance guarantees provided to investors and lenders.

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Press Release

MIGA Guarantee to Support Rural Electrification in Burundi

Also available in: French
twitteremail

WASHINGTON, December 19, 2024 – The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which houses the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, issued a $10.9 million guarantee to Anzana Electric Group (formerly Virunga Power) of Mauritius for its investments in Weza Power. The guarantee covers the risk of breach of contract for up to three years. 

Weza Power is a newly established private utility formed under an innovative Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework to expand the electricity distribution network and increase access to clean, affordable and modern energy in rural and sub-urban areas of Burundi.  

Anzana and the government have partnered on this rural electrification project to bring energy to 70% of the population (around 9 million people by 2030). The partnership will be implemented in three phases – a feasibility phase, a pilot phase, and a large-scale PPP.  

The first phase involves preliminary development activities under which Weza Power will conduct feasibility studies, design the technical aspects of the distribution network, develop an environmental and social management framework, launch a new fit-for-purpose utility company and training program and complete other preparatory tasks for the subsequent pilot phase. The pilot phase, to begin in 2025, is expected to include the expansion, rehabilitation, maintenance, and operation of Burundi’s low- and medium-voltage network and the expansion of electricity access to 45,000 rural households.  

MIGA’s breach of contract guarantee currently covers only the investment in preliminary development activities during the feasibility phase and will support the government’s obligations under the project agreement, mitigating some of the execution risks associated with this public-private partnership.  

The World Bank Group’s Guarantee Platform is supporting an innovative and transformational rural electrification model, driven by a private company taking on the role of a utility. The Weza Power project has the potential to be widely replicated, bringing electricity to the homes of millions,” said Hiroshi Matano, MIGA Executive Vice President. “By providing guarantee cover for feasibility-phase in a project that is also receiving support from the World Bank and the IFC, we are helping to bring forward a brighter, and a more prosperous future for Burundians – and contributing to the Mission 300 objective.”  

The MIGA Guarantee facility under the IDA Private Sector Window (PSW-MGF) will provide a first loss layer in a risk-sharing arrangement. The project will make a significant contribution to the Mission 300, an ambitious partnership between the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank to connect 300 million people to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.  

The Weza initiative supports Burundi’s commitment to the Paris Agreement’s low-carbon development, climate adaptation, and resilience goals. The project is a cornerstone of the government of Burundi’s ambitious Universal Access Program and will help advance its rural electrification strategy through knowledge development and innovation in business and practices within the country's distribution sector.  

“MIGA’s support for our early investment in Weza Power indicates the foresight and flexibility needed to mobilize private capital to meet or exceed the Mission 300 electrification targets. This collaboration with IFC, the World Bank, and other investors shows how blended finance for rural electricity infrastructure, based on sound global utility practices, can accelerate universal energy access and drive economic growth,” said Brian Kelly, Founder and CEO of Anzana Electric Group. “We look forward to strengthening our partnership with MIGA and the World Bank Group and hope to replicate this model across the region.” 

The project is supported by the World Bank’s Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation (ASCENT) regional initiative, which aims to deliver electricity access to 100 million people in Eastern and Southern Africa by 2030. In addition, Anzana Electric Group recently partnered with the World Bank Group’s International Finance Cooperation to co-develop the Weza project, with IFC providing financing and expertise for the new utility.  

The project also benefited from the support of early-stage donors, including US DFC, USAID Power Africa, USTDA and NORAD, and expects to mobilize a number of additional partners in the coming months.   

Burundi has one of the lowest rates of electricity access in the world, with only 12% of the population having access – just 1.8% in rural areas. This project is expected to address this gap by expanding grid connectivity in rural Burundi, leveraging renewable energy supply that will be integrated into the grid in the coming years. 

 

About Anzana Electric Group 

Anzana Electric Group (formerly Virunga Power), is a private utility company that was established in 2011 to develop, invest in, and operate renewable power projects and electricity distribution grids in sub-Saharan Africa. Anzana is backed by Gridworks Development Partners, a UK Government-funded (BII) investor in transmission and distribution projects in Africa and supported by a range of development finance partners and private investors.  

 

About the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform    

Initiated in 2024, the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform consolidates guarantee products and experts from across the World Bank Group at MIGA. It provides a simplified and comprehensive menu of guarantee solutions, enabling clients to select the instrument that best suits their needs. The platform streamlines processes, removes redundancies, and provides greater accessibility by de-risking investments in developing countries. Its goal is to boost the World Bank Group’s annual guarantee issuance to $20 billion by 2030.     

  

For more information about the guarantee platform, please visit: https://www.worldbank.org/wbgguarantees  

Stay updated and follow us at https://twitter.com/MIGA and https://www.linkedin.com/company/wb-miga    

 

Contact:    

In Washington: Elizabeth Howton, (202) 458-5922 or ehowton@worldbankgroup.org   

Also available in: French
twitteremail