Althelia Madagascar Sustainable Landscapes Fund

The Althelia's Madagascar Sustainable Landscapes Fund makes investments in sustainable environmental activities which reduce deforestation, promote transition towards sustainable agriculture , and provide access to energy in Madagascar.

The fund focuses on 2 complementary set of activities to achieve landscape conservation, at scale:

Agroforestry and sustainable production, through the improvement of existing plantations (vanilla, cloves, cardamom etc.) by agroforestry techniques, improved logistics and direct route to markets, generating revenues from increased volumes and improved prices of certified commodities; and

Access to energy, by providing access to clean cooking and electricity, enabling reduction in deforestation (less slash and burn and firewood) and improvement of livelihoods, with revenues in the form of sale of power and sustainable, locally produced ethanol.

The fund is a 10 years closed ended fund, which deliver environmental, climate, social impacts in one of the most biodiversity-rich and economically-poor country in the World.

The Green Climate Fund approved on 14th October 2016 a US$35m cornerstone investment into the fund (see https://althelia.com/2016/10/14/press-release-madagascar-sustainable-lan...), paired with a USD18.5m granted by the GCF to Conservation International to support conservation activities in protected areas.

Financial description

The Fund invests into medium-term loans in 2 sets of activities: sustainable agriculture and access to energy (both rural electrification and clean cooking). Overall, USD45m is to be invested in a portfolio of c.10 investments, balanced between agroforestry (55%) and access to energy (45%);
Capital is drawn down as required across a blended portfolio creating strong and predictable cashflows.