Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa (CEI Africa) Foundation
Funded By:
Partners:
The Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa (CEI Africa) Foundation was established by KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) with an initial contribution of EUR 49M in 2021 with EUR 9M in additional funding from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) in 2022 to improve access to energy for rural households and enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. KfW aims to expand the fund to a total capitalization of EUR 500M.
Triple Jump, Persistent Energy Capital and GreenMax Capital Group form the managing consortium leading implementation of CEI Africa, which supports the delivery of climate-friendly electricity by financing green mini-grid developers and off-grid solar companies through two investment windows and multiple types of investments combined with technical assistance. Triple Jump is the Foundation Manager, Persistent is the Crowdlending (CL) window lead and GreenMax is the Results-based Financing (RBF) window lead.
The Crowdlending window offers senior debt, junior debt, guarantees, equity, quasi-equity and technical assistance. At present, the main offerings are junior debt and technical assistance. The Crowdlending window invests alongside crowdlenders in green mini-grid (GMG) developers and other companies providing services in the off-grid solar space, including solar home systems (SHS), commercial and industrial (C&I) off-grid systems for MSMEs and service providers, pico solar PV, and solar-powered productive use of energy (PUE) appliances, such as grain mills, pumps or cold storage solutions. Manufacturers, assemblers, service providers, developers and operators of distributed off-grid energy equipment and appliances are all also eligible to apply for financing. For GMGs, the current focus countries are: Benin, DRC, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali and Sierra Leone. For other off-grid energy companies, the current focus countries are Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia.
The RBF window offers grants and technical assistance to GMG developers in Sub-Saharan Africa under two components – “Conventional RBF,” which provides grants for verified new connections, and “Smart Outcomes,” which provides grants for Productive Use of Energy. GreenMax and its consortium partners have designed CEI Africa to address several of the bottlenecks that previous mini-grid RBF programs have faced in timely disbursement of awarded funds – offering a variety of instruments under the Foundation’s single umbrella:
(1) Pre-financing: To provide working capital to GMG developers, 30% of the awarded RBF grant amount may be advanced on ordering of equipment in the form of a 0% “forgivable loan,” which converts to a grant when 30% of connections are completed.
(2) One-Stop Shop: To align timelines and due diligence, the CL window and RBF window forms a “deal team” for each applicant so that RBF grants and construction debt supported by the CL window are considered simultaneously with a unified set of eligibility, KYC, E&S and financial requirements.
(3) Technical Assistance (TA): GMG developers that struggle to meet requirements for funding are offered remedial TA interventions. TA is also offered to support project implementation.
(4) Productive Uses of Energy (PUE): Under the Smart Outcomes component, GMG developers are offered grants and further TA to implement partnerships with PUE vendors that will increase demand for electricity and foster economic development.
In November 2022, the RBF window launched its first Call for Applications for new connections implemented by GMGs in Benin, DRC, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali and Sierra Leone. A second Call will be issued in Q2 2023 under the Smart Outcomes component, focused on the same countries plus Cameroon and Uganda. Green mini-grid developers may also apply to CEI Africa’s Crowdlending window for construction, bridge and medium-term project debt. The application process is managed on the Odyssey Energy Solutions platform. Applicants may sign up here.
Learn more about CEI Africa here.
For more information about/any inquires related to CEI Africa, please contact the following members of our team:
- Daniel Kitwa: CEI Africa – RBF Window Lead [dkitwa@greenmaxcap.com]
- Shelmith Theuri, CEI Africa – Smart Outcomes component Lead [stheuri@greenmaxcap.com]
- Robert Wangoe, CEI Africa – Technical Assistance Manager [rwangoe@greenmaxcap.com]
- Kokou Lagassou, CEI Africa – Productive Use of Energy Manager [klagassou@greenmaxcap.com]