• SA-H2 is a blended finance private equity fund focused on the green hydrogen value chain and energy transition in Southern Africa
• Commitments were secured from the European Commission under Global Gateway, Invest International, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), Sanlam Life and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC)

Climate Fund Managers, a climate-focused blended finance investment manager, today announced the first close of SA-H2 Fund (SA-H2), also known as Climate Investor Three (CI3) South Africa, with ZAR 3 billion (~USD $182 million¹) commitments.

SA-H2 invests in large-scale energy transition projects across the green hydrogen value chain, including green hydrogen production, downstream derivatives such as green ammonia and green methanol, and the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries.

A blended finance facility, SA-H2 combines public and private capital in a single platform. Public capital is deployed strategically to balance risk, enabling institutional capital to participate. It comprises a Development Tranche, providing early-stage risk capital and technical assistance to prepare projects for final investment decision (FID) and blended Equity Tranches to progress from financial close to project construction.

Commitments to SA-H2’s Development Tranche were secured from fund anchors Invest International and the European Commission via its Global Gateway strategy, as well as the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC). Commitments to SA-H2’s Equity Tranches were secured from South Africa’s state-owned asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), South African financial services company Sanlam Life Insurance Limited (Sanlam Life), Invest International and the European Commission. The fund is also supported by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

The first close reflects growing investor confidence in green hydrogen and its derivatives as a solution for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, including steel, fertiliser, e-fuels and chemicals.

To date, SA-H2 has signed development funding agreements with Green Efuels Producers, a first-of-its-kind wastewater-to-green-methanol plant in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, and the Hive Hydrogen Coega Green Ammonia Project, South Africa’s first large-scale green ammonia production plant.

This first close of ZAR 3 billion, enables SA-H2 to demonstrate traction and progress in the green hydrogen sector, supported by market activity, to achieve final close at the targeted total fund size of ZAR 12 billion by mid-2028.

The Fund builds on the track record of Climate Fund Managers’ Climate Investor One and Climate Investor Two equity funds, which have together mobilised over USD 2 billion for renewable energy, water, waste and oceans infrastructure in emerging markets. The manager has recently expanded into private credit through the GAIA Climate Loan Fund, which reached first close in 2025 and targets a final close of USD 1.48 billion in 2027.