Impact investor Acumen said on Tuesday its Hardest-to-Reach Initiative (H2R) has secured $250 million in blended capital to expand clean energy access across sub-Saharan Africa, meeting its fundraising target.
The milestone follows the final close of H2R Amplify, the initiative’s scale-focused debt fund, at $180 million. The close was supported by a $7.8 million commitment from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), alongside $18 million in grant capital to provide impact-based incentives to borrowers, Acumen said.
Launched at COP28 and anchored by the Green Climate Fund, H2R is Acumen’s largest energy initiative to date. It aims to reach nearly 70 million people, including about 50 million first-time energy users, in underserved and fragile markets where traditional financing has been limited.
H2R combines a market-building facility, Catalyze, with the Amplify debt fund to finance distributed clean energy solutions for households and small businesses across 17 countries, including Malawi, Zambia and Somalia.
“The full close of Amplify marks a shift from announced ambition to fully committed capital,” said Jiwoo Choi, Acumen’s chief of strategic initiatives and head of H2R.
SDC said its participation reflects its focus on expanding access to affordable and reliable energy while strengthening resilience and local development in vulnerable regions.
Amplify’s investors include the Green Climate Fund, International Finance Corporation, British International Investment, Shinhan Bank, Soros Economic Development Fund, Nordic Development Fund, Signify Foundation and ImpactAssets. Catalyze is supported by partners such as Norad, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, the UK government’s Transforming Energy Access platform and several philanthropic foundations.
Acumen said H2R was recently named the 2025 Deal of the Year by the African Solar Industry Association.