Funding for Africa clean energy financing surges despite fewer project approvals

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa’s flagship cleanable vigor money plans to much than treble its financing to $2.5 cardinal implicit the adjacent 2 years, arsenic momentum builds down the continent’s vigor transition.

Contributions to the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) roseate past year, signaling renewed capitalist assurance successful African renewables. Since its launch, the money has mobilized astir $1 cardinal successful commercialized superior alongside its ain commitments.

“Based connected our projects pipeline, we projected superior mobilization to ascent to $2.5 billion,” said Joao Duarte Cunha, manager of the bank’s Renewable Energy Funds Division and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.

“By 2030, we expect our portfolio to output implicit $10 cardinal successful commercialized superior mobilized,” helium said.

The contributions to SEFA roseate to $88 cardinal successful 2025, mostly from European Union subordinate countries. That was up from $54.3 cardinal the twelvemonth before, the determination lender said during its caller governing assembly meeting.

“SEFA is proving its catalytic worth connected the ground, with accelerated approvals and disbursements and increasing impact,” said Kevin Kariuki, vice president for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth astatine the African Development Bank Group.

The slope approved 13 renewable vigor projects past twelvemonth worthy $97 million, compared with 14 projects valued astatine $108 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier.

“The past 2 years person been among our strongest, with 27 projects approved — besides broadly comparable successful backing volumes and importantly higher than earlier years,” said Cunha.

“Demand for catalytic financing and upstream enactment continues to grow, and we stay profoundly committed to driving the vigor modulation and achieving cosmopolitan vigor entree by 2030,” helium said.

Germany committed $40.1 cardinal astatine past year's COP 30 planetary clime acme successful Brazil, to enactment SEFA’s extremity of cosmopolitan vigor entree and its greenish hydrogen program. Italy announced a $5.9 cardinal publication to the fund.

SEFA is designed to pull backstage concern successful cleanable vigor crossed the continent. Backed by donors led Denmark, it has received cumulative contributions of $577 million. The money provides low-cost loans and method assistance to grow vigor entree and enactment sustainable development.

In 2024, SEFA approved 14 renewable vigor projects successful Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Chad, adding astir 840 megawatts of generating capableness and delivering 1.5 cardinal caller energy connections. Of those projects, 8 were categorized arsenic greenish baseload — producing the minimum magnitude of vigor required to conscionable a country's vigor demand. Two were categorized arsenic greenish mini-grids and 4 arsenic vigor ratio initiatives.