The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $170.9 million in financing for the African Development Bank’s Leveraging Energy Access Finance Framework (LEAF) program. The LEAF program aims to unlock commercial and local-currency financing for decentralized renewable energy (DRE) projects in six program countries: Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Tunisia. This financing is part of an overall $900 million program budget whose objective is to scale up roll-out of mini-grids, solar home systems, and commercial and industrial solar solutions in the program countries.
Acting Director of GCF’s Private Sector Facility, Tony Clamp, described the LEAF program as “timely and critical” and stated that GCF is delighted to support “decentralized renewable energy across these six African countries.” He continued that GCF will help unlock much-needed commercial capital and local currency financing to help overcome financing barriers. This financing will help to harness Africa’s abundant solar resources to provide renewable energy to 6 million people and businesses and will also prevent 28.8 million tons in CO2 emissions over the lifetime of the systems.
Indeed, by deploying credit enhancement instruments and technical assistance, LEAF will strengthen capital markets and crowd-in private sector investors, including local financial institutions, thereby enhancing their financial and technical capacity to finance businesses in the fast growing decentralized renewable energy market segment comprising of solar home systems, green mini-grids, and solar solutions for commercial and industrial sectors. The program will also provide requisite support to strengthen the enabling environment and increase private sector investment in this market segment. Commenting on the financing, Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, stated that it “is a significant boost for the African Development Bank’s twin ambitions of accelerating electricity access and supporting the transition to clean energy on the continent using decentralized renewable energy solutions, and moreover facilitated through local financing.”
This article was adapted from a press release distributed by APO Group. You can start earning money by becoming our Independent Reporter or Contributor. Contact us at IR@downtownafrica.com
Want to read more about the Africa other media don’t usually focus on? Go to [https://downtownafrica.com/subscribe/]