At least 500 million are living in Africa without access to electricity. The continent needs billions for clean energy projects. One idea is to form a creditworthy intermediary that supports regional market integration and that creates scale to bring down green energy prices.

One of the reasons why sub-Saharan Africa has so many without power is because the utilities there lack the ability to get loans or investment, meaning they cannot finance an expansion of infrastructure — either the transmission and distribution or the electric generators. But the AfricaGreenCo. is now an intermediary, becoming the creditworthy entity that is used to draw in financing. Can it be effective?