Donors: Acumen Fund Inc., Green Climate Fund (GCF)

Donor Countries: Multi-donor, United States of America

Description: GCF anchor investment of $20 million equity + $5 million grant; fund is targeting 10-15 investments, focused in East Africa initially - in parallel raising $10 million Technical Assistance Facility.

Location: East Africa Region, Kenya, Rwanda

On- or Off-Grid: Not Specified

Geography: Kenya, Rwanda, with possible further expansion into East Africa

Eligibility: Not Specified

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Donor: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Donor Countries: Japan

Description: ODA Grants are the provisions of funds to developing countries that have low income levels, without the obligation of repayment. ODA Grants are used for developing power infrastructure.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Both

Geography: Sub Saharan Africa

Eligibility: JICA Criteria

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Donor: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Donor Countries: Norway

Description: Early-stage grant funding for renewable energy projects in the public sector.

Location:  Angola, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda

On- or Off-Grid: Not Specified

Geography: Priority countries, currently: Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia

Eligibility: Not Specified

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Donors: Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Department for International Development (DFID), Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), World Bank (WB)

Donor Countries: Australia, Multi-donor, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom

Description: The Global Partnership on Output Based Aid (GPOBA). This trust fund is a form of results based financing (in the form of grants) made against the achievement of predetermined outputs. It provides grants for the development and implementation of projects adopting results-based and output-based aid approaches (for technical assistance, knowledge dissemination and subsidies for project implementation). GPOBA has a diverse global portfolio of projects across seven sectors.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Both

Geography: Any member country of the World Bank Group in accordance with donor specifications (Recipients of official developmental assistance as defined by the OECD). Focus on SSA, South and East Asia, Pacific Islands.

Eligibility: Approved as per WB process, with prior endorsement of the GPOBA Panel of Experts

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Donor: Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Donor Countries: Multi-donor

Description: The programme provides grants of up to $50,000 directly to local communities including indigenous people, community-based organizations and other non-governmental groups for projects in Biodiversity, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Land Degradation and Sustainable Forest Management, International Waters and Chemicals.

Location:  Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

On- or Off-Grid: Both

Geography:  https://sgp.undp.org/index.php?option=com_countrypages&view=countrypages&Itemid=152

Eligibility:  Non-governmental Organizations and Community Development Organizations in Small Grants Programme participating countries.

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Donors: Austrian Development Agency (ADA), ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Donor Countries: Austria, Multi-donor, Spain, United States of America

Description: Grants to small/medium RE business projects (debt is planned)

Three financing windows:

1) Investment promotion: pre-investment activities, pro-poor demonstration

2) Business development: Business support partnerships

3) Innovative Loan Financing Instruments (planned)

Location:  Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone

On- or Off-Grid: Not Specified

Geography: Rural and peri-urban West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone

Eligibility:  Small/medium RE business projects (debt is planned)

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Donor: United States African Development Foundation (USADF)

Donor Countries: United States of America

Description: Seed Capital Funding for small-to-medium African energy entrepreneurs and enterprises to expand service to underserved communities.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Both

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Donors: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), Danish International Development Cooperation (DANIDA), Department for International Development (DFID), Government of Canada (GoC), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)

Donor Countries: Canada, Denmark, Multi-donor, Sweden, United Kingdom

Description: Provides grants and interest free loans to entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses who wish to implement innovative, commercially viable, high impact projects in Africa. The AECF supports businesses working in agriculture, financial services, renewable energy.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Not Specified

Geography: Sub Saharan Africa

Eligibility: AECF uses a Challenge Fund model where funding is awarded through Competitions. Only private sector companies are eligible to submit their innovative business ideas, and have to comply with the eligibility and selection criteria of each competition

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Donors: Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Department for International Development (DFID), Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC)

Donor Countries: Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Description: Sustainable access to modern energy services that meet the needs of the poor. EnDev includes a Results-Based Financing mechanism providing incentive-based payments to stimulate off-grid energy access markets. This can include household solar. EnDev promotes sustainable access to modern energy services for households, social institutions and small to medium-sized enterprises in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Location:  Benin, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania

On- or Off-Grid: Off-Grid

Geography: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Benin (RBF calls to date)

Eligibility:  An important precondition is that structures need to be in place to secure access to energy in the long run. In this way, the partnership program seizes present potential and fosters positive outlooks. However, EnDev only intervenes if the access would not occur otherwise within the next five years.

Supported Projects:

- can prove successful strategies (performance),

- meet criteria determined by a needs assessment, and;

- match focal areas defined by financiers.

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Donors: Department for International Development (DFID), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)

Donor Countries: Multi-donor, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Description: DevCo, managed by the World Bank Group’s IFC, provides critical financial support for structuring transactions to facilitate sustainable private sector participation in infrastructure in poorer developing countries. DevCo supports infrastructure transactions in the poorest countries by providing funding for expert consultants to prepare projects for private investment. DevCo funds, which are all supplied by PIDG donors, can also be used to support the marketing, planning and development of transactions as well as implementation support. DevCo can also provide partial underwriting of IFC risks associated with advisory mandates.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Not Specified

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Donors:  Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), Danish International Development Cooperation (DANIDA), Department for International Development (DFID), Government of Canada (GoC), Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)

Donor Countries: Canada, Denmark, Multi-donor, Sweden, United Kingdom

Description: To stimulate private sector investment in developing low cost, clean energy and climate change technologies and services, such as solar power, biomass energy, irrigation and crop insurance products for small holder farmers. Every business supported by REACT must demonstrate a positive impact on the rural poor through increased incomes, employment and productivity or by reducing costs.

Location:  Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Off-Grid

Geography: Sub Saharan Africa

Eligibility: AECF uses a Challenge Fund model where funding is awarded through Competitions. Only private sector companies are eligible to submit their innovative business ideas, and have to comply with the eligibility and selection criteria of each competition

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Donors: African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC), African Development Bank (AfDB), Dutch Development Bank (FMO), ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), West African Development Bank (BOAD)

Donor Countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Multi-donor, Netherlands

Description: Equity investments for small-to-medium renewable energy projects. The Project Support Facility provides early-stage grant funding.

Location:  Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sub Saharan Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

On- or Off-Grid: Both

Geography: AfDB Regional Member Countries

Eligibility:  Must be small/medium (5-50 MW) independent power projects from solar, wind, biomass, hydro, as well as some geothermal & gas technologies

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Donor: Department for International Development (DFID)

Donor Countries: United Kingdom

Description: The program will catalyze a market-based approach for private sector delivery of solar home system (SHS) products and services, leading to improved energy access for people in sub-Saharan Africa. The program will work in 14 priority countries: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Senegal. The program will support technical assistance to improve the enabling environment, and finance for businesses seeking to enter new and emerging SHS markets in sub-Saharan Africa for their start up and early commercialization of ideas.

Location:  Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

On- or Off-Grid: Off-Grid

Eligibility:  Enterprises that aim to sell household solar products and services to households. It does not focus on community-wide and larger mini-grids.

Technical Assistance to improve country enabling environments to facilitate markets in household solar

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Donor: Department for International Development (DFID)

Donor Countries: United Kingdom

Description: This programme - implemented by the Energising Development (EnDev) partnership, managed by GIZ and RVO – employs a Results Based Financing (RBF) approach to overcome identified market failures that are constraining private sector investment in low carbon energy access (electricity and cooking) in developing countries. This programme targets a range of benefits, including economic growth (through the creation of enterprises and jobs for men and women), reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and improvements in health as a result of clean cooking methods (particularly for women and young children). The programme has expanded considerably in scope since its initial design, and now implements 17 projects as opposed to the 10 originally planned. This means that the portfolio of RBF approaches has the potential to gather an even broader range of lessons than had first been anticipated. Already the approach taken in this programme is influencing the wider energy access community.

Location: Sub Saharan Africa

On- or Off-Grid: Off-Grid

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2nd edition (2019-2020)

The 2nd edition of this program has an endowment of 500.000€. Projects may apply for values between € 25,000 and € 100,000. The Fund will cover:

• up to 75% of the total project costs, for non-profit entities;
• up to 50% of the total project costs, for for-profit entities.

A2E Fund will support energy access projects in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania.

Criteria of Evaluation

• Social relevance and impact.
• Ability to implement.
• Partnerships.
• Sustainability.
• Expansion.
• Number of beneficiaries.
• Costs / Benefits.

Main dates:

• Phase 1 – Applications Analysis » November/December
• Phase 2 – Pre-selection I (complementary information) » December/January
• Phase 3 – Pre-selection II (technical visits) if applicable » January/February
• Phase 4 – Final Selection & Contracting » February/March

Applications are open until 26th November 2019.

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The Household Solar Workforce Development Challenge will award up to $350,000 in grant funding to support scalable, innovative, third-party training solutions to the off-grid solar home system sector's workforce needs in sub-Saharan Africa. USAID, as part of its commitment to the Scaling Off-Grid Energy (SOGE) Grand Challenge for Development, is supporting the Household Solar Workforce Development Challenge run by the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN).

The Problem

Off-grid solar home systems (SHS) are an emerging solution to provide access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. According to GOGLA, the off-grid solar sector globally has an estimated annual growth rate of 140% that is primarily driven by pay-as-you-go (PAYG) business models and 'plug-and-play' solar home system technology. With continued growth, the sector could support up to 1.3 million full­ time equivalent jobs by 2022.

Hiring and retaining qualified employees has been challenging for many SHS companies. Challenges include lack of candidates with appropriate technical and “soft skills,” lack of relevant and context-based curricula on off-grid systems at the certificate level, the inability of the sector to compete for fresh graduates with higher-paying established companies, high-performing employees being poached by competitors, and a lack of capital to invest in the continued training and professional development of current employees. Furthermore, in Africa, SHS solutions are often deployed in rural and remote areas where it can be even harder to attract and retain staff.

About the Challenge

Third-party organizations that focus on training workers for the off-grid solar home system sector offer a viable, and potentially more efficient and effective workforce development solution, but are not yet widely supported or utilized.

The specific objectives of this funding window are to identify and support scalable, innovative, third-party training solutions to the off-grid solar home system sector's workforce needs in sub-Saharan Africa.

This call is an initiative of the ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of its commitment to the Scaling Off-Grid Energy (SOGE) Grand Challenge for Development.

Why Participate?

The selected organizations will receive awards ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 350,000 for project implementation over the course of one year, subject to the availability of funding.

Deadlines:

• Call for Proposals Opens: 16 October 2019;
• Closing Date for Questions: 29 November 2019;
• Call for Proposals Closes: 15 December 2019;

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The French Development Agency (AFD) and the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) have recently launched a call for projects aimed at young Africans who are developing sustainable off-grid solutions to facilitate access to electricity in Africa. Through this programme, which is already in its second edition, some 10 project leaders will receive a budget of €1,600,000 to finance their activities.

Through this initiative, the two French organisations want to “financially support projects that facilitate access to renewable energy in Africa. ”Projects should “implement innovative technologies and/or organisations that generate sustainable economic activities by reducing the environmental footprint over the entire life cycle. ”Projects must focus on at least one of the following areas: electricity and sustainable forms of heat or cooling production.

Deadline for receipt of applications: Monday, 16 December 2019

Organization: French Development Agency (AFD) and the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe)

More info: (in French)

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Publication date: 6th October 2019

Submission date: 31st October 2019

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa

Entity: USTDA

Description: The U.S. Trade and Development Agency announced a call for initial proposals from project sponsors in sub-Saharan Africa or U.S. companies working with African project sponsors. These entities are invited to submit an initial concept paper (not to exceed five pages) on energy-related projects to USTDA no later than Tuesday, October 31, 2019 at 12:00pm Eastern Time to be considered for funding.

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The African Power Platform will inform the members as soon a new application windows open.

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The EforA Research and Development Fund was launched in November 2018 and aims to accelerate innovation in off-grid and weak grid appliance technologies

Efficiency for Access (EforA), supported by UK aid, is investing funding into research and development (R&D) projects with the aim to accelerate the availability, affordability, efficiency and performance of a range of low energy inclusive appliances that are particularly suited to developing country contexts and promote social inclusion.

In our second call, EforA invites funding applications for R&D projects that develop innovative appliance technologies or products focused on cooling for off- and weak-grid settings with a particular focus on fans, refrigeration and cold chain. The minimum total funding available under this call is £1m.

Access to sustainable cooling is essential in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the SDGs for poverty and health. Access to cooling is also a prerequisite for broader economic development, enabling farmers to access new markets, as well as reducing food loss and waste. At the same time, cooling provides much-needed relief and helps to save lives in an increasingly warmer climate.

For this call, we have introduced changes to provide additional funding support and application assistance to start-ups and micro-sized organisations, as well as applicants based or conducting R&D in UK aid priority countries (e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa). We encourage these organisations to apply. In addition, we are available to provide partner match-making assistance for your application if you are looking for partner organisations with specifics areas of expertise.

The application window for the second round of grants goes live on 19 June 2019 and will be open to all organisations that meet the application criteria. Submissions for applications will close on 16 August 2019 at midnight (GMT). 

Further Information:

• Download Guidelines
• Watch Webinar
• Register and Apply
• Visit the Website

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A new round of funding to support innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any sector.

Up to £32m is to be invested in innovation projects that will help countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia access secure, low-cost and low-carbon energy.  Energy Catalyst Round 7 is part of part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Transforming Energy Access (TEA) Programme and the investment is from Innovate UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

The aim of the competition is to support highly innovative, market-focused energy solutions in any technology or sector or international market.  Focusing on the needs of poor households, businesses and services in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia, projects must be targeted at people who are unable to afford or access existing solutions, or who lack the time or expertise to successfully use those solutions.

Energy Catalyst Round 7 is looking for projects that address all three elements of the energy ‘trilemma’:

• cost
• emissions
• security of supply and energy access

Applications: There are three options to apply into this competition. These are referred to as strands and will be run in parallel. The strands are dependent on the stage your project is at:

• early stage for feasibility studies
• mid-stage for industrial research
• late stage for experimental development

To be eligible for funding for mid and late stage, at least some of the research and development, testing or demonstration activities must be carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia as well as having a partner with a legal entity in Sub Saharan Africa or South Asia.

Energy Catalyst Round 7 events

KTN is running several briefing and brokerage events to outline the competition scope in detail:

• Glasgow, 11 June (as part of the Clean Growth and Infrastructure Innovation Event)
• London, 13 June
• Webinar, 13 June
• Birmingham, 20 June 
• Newcastle, 24 June
• St Asaph, 28 June

To book, simply click on the relevant date and location to go to the registration page.

Energy Catalyst Round 7 overseas missions

Global Challenges Research Fund is seeking applications for three Energy Catalyst missions – Burma, Ethiopia and Kenya – to take place in July. The missions are designed to support the Energy Catalyst Round 7 funding and will offer innovators applying for Energy Catalyst Round 7 a unique opportunity to gain greater understanding of the energy access issues in Burma, Ethiopia and Kenya and foster links with potential partners.

For more information, links to the application forms and important dates, click here.

Online partnering

KTN is providing an online partnering platform, Meeting Mojo, to support potential applicants in finding partners.  This is available to both UK and international organisations. Meeting Mojo allows you to search for and message potential partners to form a consortium for this competition.  To register on the site, please click here.

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