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SEFA - Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa

Blended Finance Facility
Côte d'Ivoire
iSustain score 94Demanding· 6–12 months

AfDB-hosted catalytic fund de-risking early-stage renewable energy projects.

Geographic focus

Pan-African

Sector appetite

Renewable Energy
Mini-grids
Energy Efficiency

Finance instruments

Grants
Concessional Debt
Equity

Project stages

Concept
Development
Construction

Typical ticket size

$500k – $30m

Readiness requirements

Project development plan, AfDB pipeline alignment

Partnership preferences

Channelled through AfDB operations

Contact

sefa@afdb.org

iSustain relevance score

  • Regional focus & relevance30/30
  • Access & contactability25/25
  • Financing programmes & instruments — 2 open or rolling12/15
  • Instrument breadth12/15
  • Data freshness15/15

Weighted 0–100: Africa focus 30, access & contactability 25, live windows 15, instrument breadth 15, data freshness 15.

Access difficulty

Demanding· 6–12 months

Access via an accredited or implementing entity; published application route.

  • Counterparty requirement — Accredited / implementing entity required4/5
  • Application process — Published application route0/3
  • Ticket floor — No large minimum ticket0/3
  • Readiness burden — 0 readiness requirements identified0/2
  • Internal approval process — Investment committee process1/2

A rating of how hard this capital is to reach — not a prediction of whether an application will succeed. Built from the counterparty required, the published application route, the minimum ticket, the readiness evidence expected and the internal approval process.

Instruments & programmes

What a client can actually approach this organisation for, and how access works.

SEFA Concessional Investment Window

Facility
Concessional Debt
Open

Concessional senior/subordinated debt and equity to de-risk clean energy transactions alongside AfDB or third-party finance.

Access route

Via accredited entity

Ticket size

$1m – $10m — Typically $1m–$10m concessional tranche

Geographic focus

Pan-African

Sector focus

Renewable Energy
Energy Access
Mini-grids

Project stages

Development
Construction

Eligibility

Projects with an AfDB or co-financier lead; commercially viable but needing concessionality.

How to access

Route through the AfDB investment officer structuring the transaction.

SEFA Project Preparation Grants

Project Preparation Facility
Project Preparation
Open

Grants of up to $1m to bring renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects to bankability (feasibility, ESIA, legal, transaction advisory).

Access route

Direct application

Ticket size

$100k – $1m — Up to $1m per project

Geographic focus

Pan-African

Sector focus

Renewable Energy
Energy Access
Energy Efficiency

Project stages

Concept
Feasibility
Development

Eligibility

Private developers, public entities and utilities with an early-stage clean energy project in Africa.

How to access

Submit a concept note to the SEFA secretariat; projects can also be sponsored by an AfDB task manager.

How to access SEFA - Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa

What is SEFA?

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa is a multi-donor fund managed by the African Development Bank that supports clean energy and energy access.

What does SEFA fund?

Project preparation grants, technical assistance, enabling-environment support and concessional or equity finance for small and medium renewable energy projects.

How is SEFA accessed?

Through the African Development Bank, typically as part of a pipeline or programme it is preparing, rather than an open grant portal.

Read the African Development Bank funding guideCheck my project fit with iSustain Advisor Live

Related capital sources

Other funders with an overlapping mandate.

Browse by theme in the finance guides.

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