Over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to reliable sources of energy. The Off-Grid Energy Access Fund, OGEF, helps tackle this challenge by providing local currency financing solutions to companies bringing affordable solar energy to communities living off the grid in the region.
The Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund’s (FEI OGEF) mission is to support the growth of energy access companies across Africa and develop their capacity to sustainably access capital at scale.
FEI OGEF has two key impact objectives:
1. Improving livelihoods and increasing regional economic growth by increasing energy access from renewable and clean energy sources for small businesses and households without access to stable on-grid power supply; and
2. Addressing the sector’s long-term critical financing gaps by implementing transactions that innovate with local currency and local capital markets engagement.
To this end, FEI OGEF offers a wide range of debt instruments, predominantly oriented around local currency secured lending for consumer and inventory finance, to a variety companies in the household energy access sector including distributors, manufacturers, and end-user credit providers. The Fund supports financially sustainable transactions that engage local banks and institutional lenders to increase access to clean electricity for underserved households in Africa.
In addition, the Fund is supported by a technical assistance facility focusing on two critical sector concerns: (1) providing credit, strategic and legal support to their borrowers to ensure the long-term viability, scalability and replicability of their financing strategies; and (2) ensuring all borrowers comply with best practices with respect to environmental and social risk management, impact measurement and consumer protection principles.
The Fund is sponsored by the African Development Bank as part of the New Deal on Energy for Africa Initiative, and was structured with support from the Nordic Development Facility, Global Environment Facility and European Commission.
Source: https://www.ogefafrica.com/