| Approval Date | 14 Sep 2022 |
| Sovereign / Non-Sovereign | Non Sovereign |
| Sector | Power |
| DAC Sector Code | 23230 |
| Commitment | U.A 4,939,322.32 |
| Status | Approved |
The COVID-19 Off-Grid Recovery Platform (CRP) is a landmark initiative of the Bank approved in December 2020 to provide relief and recovery capital to energy access (EA) companies, to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while advancing access to clean electricity and promote a more viable and robust sector post-crisis. CRP was initially established as a US$50 million blended finance platform anchored in a US$20 million SEFA concessional loan to be blended and co-invested with US$30 million in commercial funding from three specialized energy access lenders (CRP Partners) selected through a competitive process: Triple Jump (managing the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund), Lion’s Head Global Partners (managing the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Fund)and Social Investment Managers and Advisors (managing SIMA Fund IandSIMA Angaza Distributor Finance Fund). Despite resilience of the sector, energy access companies continue to face operational disruptions, business uncertainty and liquidity constrains as a result of the extended impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine. In this context, AfDB approved a US$20 million top-up of the platform -CRP phase II –to continue the original programme and facilitate the provision of affordable debt products to EA companies.
CRP phase II will support ca 20 additional transactions and leverage ca US$ 30 million from Partner Funds as well as US$110 million in additional co-financing expected during the 6-year implementation period. It will enable the provision of new off-grid connections to ca 1 million households and 900connections to small businesses and social infrastructure. 2,300 new full-time jobs will be created, of which 30% is estimated to be filled by women. 28MW of solar capacity will be installed, resulting in over 1.28million tCO2eq GHG emission reductions.
CRP Phase II concessional funds will be deployed through CRP Partner Funds managed by existing Partners: the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund managed by Lion’s Head Global Partners; SDG Investment Fund in respect of its sub-fund Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund managed by Triple Jump; and the SIMA Commercial & Industrial Solar Green Bond managed by SIMA, a new to be established Fund. The selected Partners are specialized investment funds lending to the energy access sector, each with an experienced fund management team and demonstrated track record in Africa.
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Funding
Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa
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Implementing
Facility for Energy Inclusion care of Apex Fund Services (Mauritius) L
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| IATI identifier | 46002-P-Z1-FF0-030 |
| Last Update | 22 Mar 2023 |
| Name | Goran ROSAS LIMA |
| g.lima@afdb.org |
| Country | Multinational |