The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) is today publishing its inaugural Impact Report, highlighting the key achievements of the Facility in 2022 in accelerating off-grid energy services by providing results-based financing for energy service providers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2022, 13 companies were contracted in 4 Sub-Saharan countries. Their projects are expected to establish 953,000 new energy service subscriptions in the coming four years, which have the potential to provide clean energy access for 4.8 million people in rural areas of Burkina Faso, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia.
The BGFA programme has committed EUR 25 million in results-based financing to these 13 investees, which in turn are seeking to mobilise EUR 80-100 million in additional funding over the lifetime of the agreements, scheduled to end in 2027.
“The BGFA programme is one of Sweden’s innovative flagship programmes that we at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) are proud to have co-created and support. BGFA is a shining example of one of the new catalytic financing approaches Sida has introduced to its toolbox of instruments to help increase energy access in Africa. We are proud to report our initial results,”comments Anders Arvidson, Chair of the BGFA Steering Committee.
The report highlights the initial development impacts of the companies. Based on outcomes checked and approved by implementation partner and monitoring consultant NIRAS, the BGFA contributed to the establishment of over 38,000 energy service connections through the initial four companies which reported their first achievements in 2022. This will result in the avoidance of approx. 4,500 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.
“2022 was an important year for the BGFA programme, marking a number of milestones and delivering our first monitored impacts, including bringing energy access to over 200,000 people in Burkina Faso, Liberia and Zambia. We made disbursements worth EUR 2.77 million to our initial investees, the supported companies, enabling them to leverage further capital and reach their ambitious business targets for bringing clean energy to rural populations"
Ash Sharma
Company:
Head of BGFA and Vice President
Position:
Special Funds at Nefco
For further information about the Impact Report 2022, visit beyondthegrid.africa and read the full Impact Report.
BGFA - Impact Report 2022
