African power company Azura Power has acquired a majority stake in renewable energy trading company Enpower Trading, marking Azura’s first investment in South Africa.

Azura has not disclosed what stake it now holds in Enpower or how much it has invested in the business to acquire that stake.

For Azura, the investment provides an entry point into South Africa and the opportunity to support the growth of an established local business operating at the heart of this maturing market.

Enpower will serve as Azura’s electricity trading platform and form an important part of its broader growth ambitions in the country, Azura says.

The transaction is part of Azura’s growth strategy and establishes a presence in one of Africa’s largest and most dynamic electricity markets.

The transaction preserves meaningful founder and management ownership, which ensures continuity of leadership while providing access to Azura's capital, expertise and regional platform.

“We have significant long-term ambitions for South Africa. We see tremendous opportunity in the country’s evolving power sector and hope that this will be the first of several investments we make here in the years ahead,” says Azura CEO Dave Peacock.

Enpower has a private electricity trading licence, together with an import and export licence and conditional market participant status in the Southern African Power Pool.

“We have been looking for the right opportunity to enter South Africa for some time and completing our investment in Enpower is a significant milestone for Azura. The Enpower team has built a strong business with an exciting future,” he says.

South Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing significant structural change and the emergence of independent electricity traders is creating new routes to market for generators and greater choice for commercial and industrial customers.

With growing private-sector participation in generation, electricity trading is playing an increasingly important role in the development of a more competitive and flexible power market.

Azura’s investment strengthens Enpower’s capital base and guarantees capacity, as it continues to expand its customer and generation partner base and build its position within South Africa’s developing electricity trading market, says Peacock.

Alongside its investment in Enpower, Azura will continue to explore further investment opportunities across the South African power sector.

The acquisition builds on Azura’s established presence across Africa and reflects the company’s strategy of investing in high-quality energy businesses and assets that can contribute to reliable, affordable and sustainable power supply across the continent, he adds.

“Enpower was built over four years on a simple conviction that South Africa’s electricity market would open and that an independent trader could give generators a dependable route to market and customers real choice. That market is now here,” says Enpower co-founder and CEO James Beatty.

“Azura brings the capital, operating experience and pan-African platform to scale what our team has built. We welcome them as our majority shareholder and partner. For our customers and generation partners it means a stronger counterparty, greater capacity to contract and a growing portfolio of competitively priced supply.

“The next phase is about scale - in South Africa and across the region,” he says.