Acumen’s Hardest to Reach Initiative wins AFSIA’s 2025 Deal of the Year
AFSIA recognized H2R for reshaping how capital reaches companies serving first-time energy users in complex markets across Africa.
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Acumen’s Hardest to Reach Initiative has been named Deal and Financing Program of the Year at the 2025 AFSIA Solar Awards. The award was presented on December 3 in Accra, Ghana, where Joel Sam, Associate Director for H2R, accepted the recognition on behalf of Acumen and the partners aligned behind the goal of expanding energy access in underserved regions.
The award reflects a growing recognition that off-grid energy is central to Africa’s climate and economic trajectory. Despite progress across the sector, hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable electricity, while companies operating in these markets face high logistics costs, currency volatility, and limited access to capital. H2R was created to address these barriers by pairing early-stage market-building tools with scale-ready debt structured for local realities.
AFSIA’s selection underscores an industry shift toward long-term, context-specific capital models to solve energy poverty and enhance climate resilience. The award follows a year of significant momentum for H2R, including the Climate Week NYC announcement that the initiative has secured more than $245 million in capital and reached the first close of H2R Amplify, its debt-focused vehicle. The initiative aims to reach nearly 70 million people across 17 countries, including 50 million first-time energy users in areas with some of the lowest electrification rates in the world.
Acumen’s H2R initiative is actively sourcing new investment opportunities, prioritizing solutions that expand affordability, unlock underserved markets, and move millions up the energy ladder.
Learn more about the Hardest to Reach Initiative here.
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