The Africa Go Green Fund (“AGG”), managed by Cygnum Capital, has agreed to invest USD 8 million to finance the deployment of improved biomass cookstoves in Rwanda by DelAgua (“DelAgua”).
AGG’s investment will result in the purchase and deployment of 200,000 improved biomass cookstoves in Rwanda. Over the project’s life, the investment from AGG is expected to result in up to 4.38m tonnes of avoided emissions.
DelAgua has pioneered the ‘Live Well’ project since 2012, which provides fuel-efficient cookstoves, free of charge, bringing clean cooking to millions of people. The stove is distributed along with integrated education and life-long support, delivering long-term behaviour change and multiple, measurable impacts for people and the environment.
The cookstove distributed by DelAgua is the world’s most fuel-efficient, advanced wood fuel stove and has a 10-year lifespan. The stove reduces wood consumption by 71% compared to traditional cooking methods and produces 81% fewer emissions than an open fire. To date, 1.6 million stoves have been distributed across Rwanda, The Gambia & Sierra Leone.
Neil McDougall, Chairman and Co-founder, DelAgua said: We are pleased to partner with Africa Go Green to distribute 200,000 improved cookstoves to rural households in Rwanda. These stoves will not only transform the livelihoods of rural households, but also greatly reduce deforestation caused by demand for firewood.
Innovative climate financing models like this enable DelAgua to reach more people who are often left behind in the transition to cleaner cooking. With over a decade of experience, we understand what it takes to develop & implement a high integrity carbon project with maximum impact. We work in partnership with the Government of Rwanda to precisely target those most in need, who do not have access to clean cooking, while using technology to track location and usage of every stove.
Laurene Aigrain, Managing Director of AGG, commented: “We are proud to partner with DelAgua to help scale their transformative efforts in providing clean cooking solutions to underserved rural communities in Rwanda. This investment goes beyond funding—it underscores our dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening climate resilience, and improving the quality of life for households across Africa.”
About DelAgua
DelAgua is a social enterprise with more than a decade of experience implementing large-scale carbon development projects that transform the lives of rural households in least developed countries across Africa. The Live Well programme exclusively targets rural communities who are otherwise unable to afford the transition to clean cooking. DelAgua works in partnership with host governments and these deep and trusted relationships have secured Letters of Authorisation for DelAgua’s projects in all three countries and the first Article 6 labelled credits on VERRA. DelAgua is now in pole position to supply CORSIA eligible credits by Q3 2025.
DelAgua has hired 69 full-time staff in Rwanda, and worked with over 7,000 Community Health Workers who support stove distributions and household visits. As part of its geographic expansion, DelAgua has hired 50 fulltime staff, 941 Youth Volunteers in Sierra Leone, and 13 full time staff and 1,256 Village Development Committee members in The Gambia.
About Africa Go Green
AGG is designed to support activities that mitigate GHG emissions in Africa. The fund provides debt financing to businesses and projects across the spaces of industrial energy efficiency, green buildings, clean transport, and green appliances. AGG was established by KfW and has received funding commitments from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“BMZ”) through KfW, in addition to funding commitments from the African Development Bank (and in its own capacity as the implementing entity for SEFA and the Clean Technology Fund (“CTF”)), the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), Nordic Development Fund (“NDF”), British International Investment (“BII”) and Calvert Impact Capital. The fund’s current committed capital is at USD 166 million.
About Cygnum Capital (Formerly Lion’s Head Global Partners)
Cygnum Capital Group is an investment bank and asset manager operating across frontier and emerging markets. Founded in 2008, Cygnum Capital is a global provider of tailored and innovative financial solutions to meet its clients’ diverse needs.
Cygnum Capital uses long-term relationships, networks and local market understanding to deliver a best-in-class service. With offices in London, Nairobi, Lagos, Dubai, and Amsterdam, Cygnum Capital’s dynamic team of 80 finance professionals provide deep sectoral expertise, a broad product offering, an asset management platform and the ability to leverage synergies between our corporate finance, asset management and advisory activities.
Cygnum Capital Asset Management manages six pioneering funds: five debt funds including (i) the African Local Currency Bond Fund (“ALCBF”), a ground-breaking investment vehicle established to support local currency capital markets, (ii) the Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (“OGEF”) which supports companies in off-grid energy such as SHS and small- medium mini-grids, (iii) Facility for Energy Inclusion (“FEI”) which support companies that provide a range of renewable energy solutions such as medium-large mini- grids, C&I and IPP with a maximum capacity of 25 MW, (iv) AfricaGoGreen (“AGG”) Fund which supports companies combating climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels through new technologies and that increase energy efficiency, (v) Africa Agriculture Trade Investment Fund (“AATIF”), which supports companies in the agriculture space with the aim of enhancing efficiency in agricultural value chains across the continent; and a VC private equity fund (vi) E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund for Africa (“E3 LCEF”) which invests in climate-smart services, digital connectivity & Applications, low-carbon productivity enablers. Cygnum Capital Asset Management has over USD 1.1 billion in assets under management with investments in more than 34 African countries.
