ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investments Ltd. announced Monday that it has raised $76 million in a first close for a climate transition fund. The vehicle targets a final close of $200 million and will channel African institutional capital into infrastructure projects.
It's structured as Africa's first integrated multi-currency blended-finance infrastructure equity fund. Investors can participate in both U.S. dollars and local currencies through a single platform.
African infrastructure projects generate revenues mostly in local currencies. Yet funding typically comes in hard currencies, creating serious foreign-exchange risks for developers and investors.
ARM-Harith's approach combines local and dollar-denominated capital in one structure. This helps reduce currency mismatches while serving domestic institutional investors like pension funds better.
The African Development Bank's Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and FSD Africa Investments jointly provided $20 million in catalytic capital. According to ARM-Harith, this funding is meant to encourage pension funds and other domestic investors to participate.
The fund will invest in climate-resilient infrastructure and energy transition projects across Sub-Saharan Africa. It targets assets capable of generating long-term cash flows while supporting economic development and decarbonisation.
Rachel More-Oshodi, ARM-Harith's chief executive officer, called it both an achievement and a turning point. "We are bringing local and hard-currency capital together within a single platform, better aligning the structure of capital with the realities of African infrastructure assets," she noted in a statement.
Joao Duarte Cunha manages the African Development Bank's Renewable Energy Funds Division. He said the transaction shows how blended finance can mobilise long-term institutional capital into sustainable infrastructure investments across the region.
Anne-Marie Chidzero is chief investment officer at FSD Africa Investments. She explained that many African pension funds historically couldn't participate meaningfully in infrastructure equity because available vehicles didn't match their risk, tenure and currency needs.
ARM-Harith's earlier platform financed transport projects and more than 700 megawatts of installed power capacity. Those investments supported about 22,500 jobs and helped avoid roughly 2.6 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The company focuses on energy, transport and logistics, digital infrastructure, water and waste management projects. Its successor fund will seek commercially viable investments that deliver measurable climate and development outcomes while promoting regional integration across Sub-Saharan Africa.
