The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has secured a fresh injection of $64 million in grant funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).
SEFA, a multi-donor special fund managed by the African Development Bank, provides concessional finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Commenting on the grant, Norway’s Minister for International Development, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, emphasized SEFA’s ongoing contribution to tackling some of the biggest challenges hindering access to clean energy in Africa. “Six hundred million Africans lack connection to electricity and 900 million do not have modern cooking stoves,” Tvinnereim said. “With today’s announcement, NORAD – SEFA’s partner since 2018 – increased its contribution to NOK 535 million ($54.72 million).”
Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet Executive Director for Africa Joseph Nganga said GEAPP was proud to partner with the African Development Bank to expand access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy for communities across Africa.
“We are leapfrogging polluting energy sources and supporting decarbonisation across the energy sector. Together we will focus our efforts on sustainable energy projects with a high potential to be transformative, scalable, and replicable, and we look forward to supporting SEFA to catalyse and leverage additional financing for these pivotal projects,” he added.
Dr. Daniel Schroth, African Development Bank Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency acknowledged the importance of the grant funding. “These new contributions to SEFA are a recognition of the critical role played by SEFA in catalysing private sector investments in Africa’s sustainable energy sector and they will allow SEFA to further scale-up its investments over the coming years,” he said.
