Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF) [NDF C103]

OBJECTIVE

The project consists of providing anchor equity financing and technical assistance grant support to the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF or  Fund), a USD 100 million blended finance, energy access investment facility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The Fund is a co-sponsored initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and NDF stemming from discussions dating back to 2016. Both AfDB and NDF provided small grant support to the preparation of the Fund, and both will provide anchor equity financing to mobilise the Fund’s first close.

FEI is the AfDB’s flagship initiative for small-scale renewable energy access projects under its High 5 promise of Lighting Up and Powering Africa by 2025. The FEI OGEF Fund represents the off-grid window under this initiative. It is structured as a tiered debt fund mobilising both equity investors and senior lenders and will provide loans in local and hard currencies to off-grid energy companies. Its dual objectives are to scale up access to clean electricity for off-grid and underserved households and to crowd in local financial institutions as co-lenders.

Scaling up energy access to the more than 600 million people living off-grid in SSA is an urgent priority. The AfDB’s New Deal on Energy for Africa calls for coordinated action by all stakeholders. FEI OGEF is charged with addressing this challenge and anchored in the New Deal as well as the Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement framework of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs).

Lion’s Head Global Partners (LHGP) was selected to act as Fund Manager of the Fund via an international competitive recruitment process led by the AFDB in 2016. LHGP will operate the Fund from its offices in Kenya, Nigeria and the UK.

FINANCING

NDF Financing: EUR 6 million equity and EUR 500,000 grant.

NDF CONTACT

Isabel Leroux (isabel.leroux@ndf.int)