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Afrisol signs first PVMTI project in Morocco

Afrisol S.A., a PV integrator based in Casablanca, Morocco, signed a $1 million PV credit financing project in the country through the Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initiative (PVMTI) in March.

	© Afrisol
Afrisol, a leading integrator of PV systems in Morocco was awarded a $1 million by PVMTI.

The concessional funding for Afrisol, made available by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and administered by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), was first made public in Sept. 2001 (see PI 10/2001, p. 12). The IFC will forward the funds to Salafin S.A, the credit bank of Afrisol's financing partner, Finance.com.

Jürgen Gehr, Afrisol's president, says the ability to offer the small-scale solar loans should increase sales. Products will include small DC solar home systems (SHS), larger AC stand-alone systems, and PV-powered water pumps, refrigerators, and freezers. This is the first project in Morocco funded by the PVMTI, which was close to eliminating $5 million for Moroccan projects in March before problems with the country's governmental banking regulations were resolved (see PI 4/2001, p. 6).

Gehr says Afrisol, which will move into new headquarters in June, is holding discussions with several European PV companies about investing in his company. He declined to name them, saying only that they were not from Germany. It is not yet clear how much of a stake the investor would take. Gehr says that by joining with an international partner, Afrisol would be in better position to win government tenders. Last September, it lost out to France's Total Energie on a bid for 16,000 SHS; Total Energie is expected to sign a contract in May (see story below).