The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has approved seven high-impact projects worth $54m in 2020 and secured $90m in new funding.
According to SEFA’s recently released 2020 Annual Report, titled Building Foundations for Success, the African Development Bank-managed agency also secured commitments worth $90m from existing and new donors in the year.
It added SEFA new donors included the German Ministry for Development Cooperation and the Nordic Development Fund.
SEFA, which was founded in 2011, transformed into a Special Fund on 31 October 2019 and focuses on green baseload, green mini-grid, and energy efficiency investments.
The report, which covers four key areas: strategic priorities and instruments; key achievements in 2020, provided an overview of SEFA’s legacy (2012-2019) portfolio while looking ahead to SEFA’s key priorities for 2021 and beyond to transform SEFA into the leading catalytic finance facility in the sustainable energy space for the African continent.
“SEFA’s potential was duly recognized, with the year culminating in a strong endorsement by the Fund’s donors,” said Vice President Dr. Kevin Kariuki, of the African Development Bank’s Power, Energy, Climate & Green Growth Complex.
He said that the additional resources will enable SEFA to establish itself as the leading proponent of Africa’s energy transition and energy access agendas in line with the Bank’s New Deal for Energy in Africa.
AfDB’s acting Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Dr Daniel Schroth, said, “SEFA’s role in supporting innovative solar initiatives in the decentralized renewable energy space led to the African Development Bank receiving the Development Finance Institution of the Year award by the Africa Solar Industry Association in 2020. SEFA is working on an exciting pipeline of new opportunities across all three focus areas for 2021 and beyond.”
