Germany additional €100m boost for Africa renewable energy

Germany has said it will contribute €100m to the African Development Bank’s (AfDB.org) Sustainable

Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) (https://bit.ly/2Y4JEOb).

The funding will go to unlock private sector investment in green-baseload projects, a SEFA priority focus. Specifically, it will support technical assistance and investment in power generation, transmission and distribution to increase penetration of renewable power in African grids.

The funding follows Germany’s initial €50m to SEFA in 2020.

“We need to accelerate the global energy transition. This requires the rapid phasing out of all fossil fuels and a massive expansion of renewable energy. The time to act is now,” Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, said.

The financing aligns with the G20 Compact with Africa (https://bit.ly/39QLwNl) launched during Germany's tenure of the G20 presidency which promotes macroeconomic, business and financing reform to attract more private investment in Africa. 

“Germany’s new contribution is a major boost towards SEFA’s capitalization target of $500m. It’s also recognition of the catalytic role SEFA has been playing in accelerating Africa’s energy transition and supporting clean energy access solutions,” Dr. Daniel Schroth, Acting Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, AfDB, said.

SEFA is a multi-donor special fund that aims to unlock private sector investments that contribute to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services for all in Africa in line with AfDB’s New Deal on Energy for Africa strategy and Sustainable Development Goal 7.

It has received contributions from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Nordic Development Fund, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.