ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investments has announced the first close of its successor climate transition fund at approximately $76 million.

The fund, which targets a $200 million final close, is structured to combine US dollar and local currency capital within a single vehicle, aimed at increasing participation from domestic institutional investors, particularly pension funds, while also accommodating international investors seeking hard currency exposure.

ARM-Harith said the structure is intended to address a long-standing challenge in African infrastructure financing: the mismatch between hard currency fund structures and the local currency revenues generated by infrastructure assets.

The fund will invest in energy transition and climate-resilient infrastructure across Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on projects that generate stable cashflows and deliver real-economy impact.

The first close is supported by $20 million in catalytic capital from FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) and the African Development Bank through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), aimed at de-risking participation for domestic institutional investors.

“This first close is both an achievement and an inflection point for ARM-Harith. With our first fund, we demonstrated that domestic institutional capital can be mobilized into infrastructure equity,” said Rachel Moré-Oshodi (pictured), Chief Executive Officer of ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investments.

“With this successor fund, we are building on that foundation by bringing local and hard-currency capital together within a single platform — better aligning the structure of the capital with the realities of African infrastructure assets. This is a fundamental redesign: one that recognizes local market realities, mobilizes domestic savings, attracts international capital, and allocates risk more intelligently,” she said.

João Duarte Cunha, Manager of the African Development Bank’s Renewable Energy Funds Division, said: “The successful first close of the ARM-Harith Successor Fund marks a major milestone for renewable energy investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. SEFA’s catalytic participation demonstrates the African Development Bank’s commitment to unlocking long-term institutional capital and shows how blended finance can mobilise private investment into sustainable infrastructure.”

Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer at FSD Africa Investments, said: “The constraint has never been capital itself, but the absence of investment products structured to meet pension funds’ liability-matching needs, particularly around tenure, risk allocation, and currency alignment.

“Our investment structure was designed to bridge that gap — enabling pension funds to participate in infrastructure equity while remaining fully aligned with their investment objectives and obligations.”

ARM-Harith said its predecessor fund invested in transport infrastructure and more than 700 MW of installed power capacity, supporting around 22,500 jobs and avoiding an estimated 2.6 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. The new fund will continue focusing on infrastructure projects with both commercial returns and measurable climate and development impact.