Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has won the 2020 DFI (Development Finance Institution) of the Year Award in recognition of the bank’s outstanding performance in increasing renewable energy footprint on the continent.
The award, from the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) was presented last week during a virtual African energy forum.
In a statement, AfDB said the AFSIA award is the annual recognition of organisations, companies or individuals considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and advancement of solar use across the African continent.
“The award underscores the critical role the bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is playing in supporting various solar initiatives and decentralised solutions,” it said.
AfDB was shortlisted with the World Bank and the West African Development Bank.
In his congratulatory message, AFSIA chief executive officer Mr John van Zuylen said:
“Congratulations to the AfDB team on winning this inaugural DFI (Development Finance Institution) of the Year Award. The bank’s hard work through SEFA has been unanimously recognised by the independent jury for its contribution to support the development of distributed solar solutions.
“I look forward to AfDB’s participation in the AFSIA solar awards next year, hopefully with an even more impactful programme.”
More than 130 applications were submitted this year, in 15 different categories and reviewed by the industry’s most experienced experts.
Launched in 2012, SEFA is a multi-donor Special Fund managed by AfDB, which provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy. SEFA has become one of the continent’s leading facilities offering project preparation support for private sector-led renewable energy projects, and for helping governments to create a more favourable environment for private sector investments.
Last year, SEFA was converted into a larger blended finance facility around three thematic areas of green baseload, green mini-grids, and energy efficiency.
It also spearheaded the establishment of innovative blended finance initiatives such as the US$95 million Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF), one of the largest African strategies for financing household solar businesses. FEI OGEF set a new standard for commercial and capital structures, as well as operating models, and is expected to contribute to the installation of over 1,5 million energy access solutions by leveraging US$500 million of third-party investment.
“This award will be an inspiration to all of us to do more: to speed up implementation, to scale-up investments and to seize the synergies with all the great efforts underway across the continent,” said AfDB acting director for renewable energy and efficiency Mr Daniel Schroth.
In line with its new deal on energy, AfDB has in recent years increased investments in the solar sector. — @okazunga.
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