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ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investments Limited (ARM-Harith), a leading pan-African private equity fund manager, has announced the first close of its Climate Transition Fund at approximately US$76 million equivalent.
Targeting US$200 million at its final close, the ARM-Harith Climate Transition Fund is Africa’s first integrated multi-currency blended finance platform for investment into infrastructure equity.
Denominated in both US dollars and local currency within a single structure, it is purpose-built to unlock African institutional capital at scale and accelerate investment in energy transition and climate-resilient infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa.
This structural innovation directly addresses the persistent currency risk in African infrastructure funding—the mismatch between hard currency fund structures and the local currency revenues generated by the assets. By offering a dynamic currency profile, the Fund enables greater participation from domestic institutional investors, particularly pension funds, whilst allowing international investors to retain US dollar exposure.
The first close is anchored by a combined US$20 million in catalytic capital from the African Development Bank (AfDB) through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), and FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi). This capital is strategically designed to de-risk participation by domestic investors and scale local capital mobilisation.
Rachel More-Oshodi, Chief Executive Officer of ARM-Harith, speaking on the Fund: “With our first fund, we demonstrated that domestic institutional capital can be mobilised into infrastructure equity. With this successor fund, we are building on that foundation by bringing local and hard-currency capital together within a single platform—better aligning the structure of the capital with the realities of African infrastructure assets. This is a fundamental redesign and a step toward a more practical and scalable model for financing African infrastructure: one that recognises local market realities, mobilises domestic savings, attracts international capital, and allocates risk more intelligently.”
According to Joao Duarte Cunha, Manager of AfDB’s Renewable Energy Funds Division, “The successful first close of the ARM-Harith Successor Fund marks a major milestone for renewable energy investment in Africa. SEFA’s catalytic participation demonstrates the African Development Bank’s commitment to unlocking long-term institutional capital and shows how blended finance can mobilise private investment into sustainable infrastructure.”
On bridging the gap between pension capital and infrastructure equity, Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer at FSDAi said: “The constraint has never been capital itself, but the absence of investment products structured to meet pension funds’ liability-matching needs, particularly around tenure, risk allocation, and currency alignment. Our investment structure was designed to bridge that gap, enabling pension funds to participate in infrastructure equity while remaining fully aligned with their investment objectives and obligations.”
