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Published: 23 May 2023 567 views
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is a multi-donor Special Fund managed by the African Development Bank. It provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. SEFA offers technical assistance and concessional finance instruments to remove market barriers, build a more robust pipeline of projects and improve the risk-return profile of individual investments. The Fund’s overarching goal is to contribute to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services for all in Africa, in line with the New Deal on Energy for Africa and Sustainable Development Goal 7.
Established in 2011 in partnership with the government of Denmark(link is external), SEFA has since received contributions from the governments of the United States(link is external), United Kingdom(link is external), Italy(link is external), Norway(link is external), Spain(link is external), Sweden(link is external), and Germany(link is external), and also from the Nordic Development Fund(link is external) and the Global Energy Alliance from the People and Planet(link is external).
SEFA is housed in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department (PERN) under the Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth (PEVP) complex.
Notable achievements:
SEFA has spearheaded the African Development Bank’s engagement in green mini-grids, through the Market Development Program and country-focused support to create an enabling investment environment. Through these initiatives, SEFA has paved the way for the Bank to finance its first two scale-up green energy programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso.
SEFA also develops flagship blended-finance initiatives in the sector. It played a catalytic role in the preparation and financial close of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF)(link is external) – one of the first pan-African equity funds in the market. It also played a key role in establishing the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI)(link is external) – a debt financing platform for small-scale renewables across the continent.
Scope:
SEFA supports interventions across three strategic priorities:
Green baseload: Increasing the penetration of renewable energy in power systems, with a strong focus on power system stability, and delivering alternatives to fossil-fuel baseload generation options.
Green mini-grids: Accelerating electricity access to underserved populations through clean energy mini-grid solutions.
Energy efficiency: Improving the efficiency of energy services delivered through a variety of technologies and business models, also including clean cooking and pico-solar technologies.
Established to promote economic and social development efforts on the continent, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group comprises three entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is the parent institution, created following an agreement signed by 23 founding member states on August 14, 1963 in Khartoum, Sudan. This became effective on September 10, 1964. The group includes two concessionary windows – the African Development Fund (ADF), established on November 29, 1972 by the African Development Bank and 13 non-African countries; and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF), set up in 197... continue reading
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| Application Deadline | Not Specified |
| Type | Entrepreneurs |
| Sponsor | African Development Bank Group (AfDB) |
| Gender | Men and Women |
Technical assistance: Support through grants with a strong focus on activities that will directly unlock investments. Technical assistance grants are available to public and private sector entities.
Concessional investment: Support through results-based financing, loans, and equity instruments, often blended with African Development Bank investments to close viability gaps.
Special attention will be given to proposals which:
(i) are implemented in countries with limited renewable energy experience;
(ii) present demonstration and replication potential, with “first-of-a-kind” features;
(iii) provide cross-cutting benefits across several domains such as agriculture, education, food, gender, health, and water.
Due consideration will also be given to aspects of economic and financial viability, namely through strong alignment with national plans and strategies, cost-competitiveness and quality of service, and ability to generate returns and attract additional investors.
Finally, applications will be assessed across a range of indicators and anticipated development outputs and outcomes, including:
(i) commercial finance leveraged by the project;
(ii) MW of sustainable energy generation installed (and/or degree of energy efficiency achieved);
(iii) new jobs created, disaggregated by gender, and;
(iv) annual GHG emission reductions delivered.
Submit a Funding Request To submit a funding request, complete this application form and submit it to [email protected].
Given the high volume of requests, we regret that we are unable to support all requests for SEFA funding.
Funding requests: See the funding requests document for guidelines.
For more details visit: AFDB website.