PRESS RELEASE
Johannesburg, 5 February 2025: Camco’s Spark Energy Services (Spark) has started 2025 with a major deal to finance a multi-site energy efficiency initiative in Southern Africa.
Under the arrangement, Spark has agreed with its newest development partner, GreenYellow South Africa, to finance a portfolio of energy efficient lighting projects at 93 of Retailability’s retail stores.
The lighting projects span South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho, and involve replacing outdated and inefficient lighting systems with more cost effective and energy efficient LED solutions. The upgrades are expected to save approximately 17GWh of electricity generation and mitigate over 18,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
GreenYellow South Africa provided the equity funding for the work and partnered with Spark to secure debt financing against the portfolio, optimising the capital structure.
As a proven operator in the clean energy transition, GreenYellow South Africa has a strong track record in optimising energy consumption across lighting, refrigeration and HVAC systems, ensuring measurable cost savings and sustainability gains for its customers. Through its fully funded Energy Efficiency Agreement, the company takes on the investment and implementation risk, allowing clients to benefit from energy savings without upfront capital expenditure. Building on this success, GreenYellow South Africa has set an ambitious target of deploying EUR10m in energy efficiency projects this year, reinforcing its commitment to driving sustainable energy solutions across the region.
Today’s announcement marks Spark’s first venture into Southern Africa’s energy efficiency sector and the first time Spark has worked with GreenYellow South Africa.
Through its partnership with Spark, GreenYellow South Africa is able to unlock access to streamlined finance specifically targeted at accelerating energy efficiency adoption in Southern Africa, which is a priority sector and region for both partners.
Spark Director Adam Fitzwilliam said: “This landmark project underscores Spark and our partner GreenYellow's commitment to driving energy efficiency at scale across Southern Africa.
“The breadth of this initiative - delivering substantial energy savings and emissions reductions across four countries - aligns perfectly with our joint ambition to accelerate the clean energy transition.”
GreenYellow South Africa Director Michael Ilias said: “This partnership with Spark marks a significant milestone for GreenYellow South Africa as we continue to expand our efforts in driving energy efficiency across the region.
“By combining our expertise in sustainable energy solutions with Spark’s innovative financing model, we’ve implemented impactful upgrades that not only lower energy costs for Retailability but also contribute to the company’s broader sustainability goals. We’re proud to lead this initiative and remain committed to accelerating the energy transition in South Africa.”
Retailability CEO Norman Drieselmann said: “In collaboration with GreenYellow, Retailability has blended the joint objectives of improved lighting in stores and energy efficiency targets in our ESG programme.”
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Notes to editors
For all media enquiries and interview requests, please contact Hugh Bowring at media@camco.energy / +44 7768 275731 or Nicky Charnley at ncharnley@greenyellow.com.
About Spark Energy Services
Spark Energy Services (Spark) is an innovative finance platform created by Camco to support the deployment of captive generation and energy efficiency solutions in Africa’s C&I sector.
About Camco
Camco is a specialist climate and impact fund manager, leading the transition to a prosperous net zero future in emerging markets. It is an Accredited Entity of the Green Climate Fund and is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Camco has offices in Auckland, Helsinki, Johannesburg, London and Nairobi.
About GreenYellow South Africa
GreenYellow, founded in France in 2007, is a global leader in energy transition, supporting businesses and local authorities with solar PV, energy efficiency, battery energy storage, and electric mobility solutions. The company develops, funds, and operates infrastructure projects, helping clients cut energy costs and emissions. In 2023, GreenYellow’s projects avoided 427,000 tonnes of CO₂. With a Net Zero 2040 goal, operations in 15 countries, and a South African presence since 2020, it continues to drive sustainable innovation.
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