The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), managed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), has approved a $500,000 grant to support the development and launch of the Nigeria Energy Access Fund (NEAF)
The NEAF is a new private equity fund developed by All On, a Nigerian impact investment company financed by Shell Petroleum Development Company, to make strategic investments in sustainable energy in Nigeria, particularly in the country’s burgeoning off-grid and mini-grid sectors.
the continental development finance institution, in a statement distributed on its behalf by the Africa Press Organisation (APO) Group at the weekend, indicated that The SEFA grant would support specific work streams to set NEAF in motion and enhance its engagement with private and public sector investors.
The NEAF is the first-of-its-kind facility to provide eligible projects and businesses with equity solutions that are currently unavailable in the market.
The bank’s Acting Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, Wale Shonibare, explained the importance of the grant to Nigeria’s sustainable energy projects, especially in helping to mobilize private investments into the sub-sector.
He explained: “Nigeria requires bespoke and innovative market-based solutions to provide its off-grid population, estimated at 100 million, access to sustainable sources of energy. The SEFA grant will be instrumental in the constitution of NEAF, and ultimately, the mobilization of much- needed private sector investment for the sector.”
According to the bank, once operational, NEAF is expected to complement the bank’s wide range of sustainable energy initiatives currently being implemented in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that in November 2018, the bank’s Board of Directors approved a $200 million facility to support the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), designed to help scale-up green mini-grid solutions with subsidies, among other measures.
Earlier before then, specifically in May 2018, the SEFA approved a $1.5 million grant to support the first phase of the Nigerian government’s Jigawa 1-GW Independent Power Producer Solar Procurement Programme.
The SEFA’s support to NEAF is aligned with the New Deal on Energy for Africa and the AfDB’s High 5 priorities, especially ‘Light Up and Power Africa’ and ‘Improve the Quality of Lives of Africans.’
The project conforms with the bank’s Energy Sector Strategy and will catalyze the implementation of the Nigerian government’s power sector recovery plans.
