Tech & Power Generation, Solar, West Africa

Benin solar IPP reaches financial close as IFC and Proparco lend €30m for 62MWp

5th November, 2026

AXIAN Energy has signed €30m of financing with IFC and Proparco for IPP50, four solar plants in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou and Bohicon that make up Benin’s first solar project under an independent power producer model, four years after the concessions were signed, with commercial operation planned for the first quarter of 2028.

IFC and Proparco are lending €30m to IPP50, four solar plants with a combined 62MWp in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou and Bohicon that their developers describe as Benin’s first solar IPP, under financing agreements with AXIAN Energy and CDC Bénin that AXIAN announced on 29 October.

Benin awarded the project to a consortium of GreenYellow and Egnon Consulting in July 2022, when the concession agreements were signed, and AXIAN Energy took it over in 2024, partnering with Sika Capital, an investment vehicle owned jointly by CDC Bénin and Egnon Consulting.

The plants will sell their power to the Société béninoise de production d’électricité (SBPE) under long-term power purchase agreements, within 20-year concessions from the government, and IFC is also mobilising concessional funds from the Clean Technology Fund for a project expected to cost about €45m in total.

Commercial operation is planned for the first quarter of 2028, when the four plants are expected to produce about 110GWh a year, supplying about 383,000 people, and to lift Benin’s domestic electricity production by about 17% over 2028 to 2035 while avoiding about 62,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.

Benjamin Memmi, chief executive of AXIAN Group’s energy division, described financial close as an important moment for the company and for Benin’s power sector, crediting its partnership with international lenders and local investors.

The financing came two days after Benin’s government signed a memorandum of understanding with AMEA Power for a 100MW solar plant with battery storage, as the country works towards a 30% share for renewables in its electricity generation by 2030, up from 16% in 2024.

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