Japan has become the latest donor to the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), expanding the fund’s donor base to 11 and boosting its capacity to support critical energy projects across the continent.
The announcement was made during a thematic boardroom session that focused on innovative funding structures to accelerate Africa’s energy transition. During the event, SEFA also launched the *Understanding Power Project Financing Handbook*, a key resource designed to help navigate the complexities of power project financing and explore emerging financial solutions.
Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice-President for Power, Energy, Climate Change, and Green Growth, highlighted the urgent need for innovative financing solutions to address Africa’s energy access gap. He emphasized that SEFA, now strengthened by Japan’s involvement, is well-positioned to unlock the potential of clean energy for millions of Africans.
Richard Nelson, Power Africa Coordinator, also stressed the importance of linking investors and developers with bankable, shovel-ready energy projects to unlock Africa’s energy potential and drive economic growth.
Meredith Muthoni, Head of Electric Finance at BURN, spoke about the impact of clean cooking solutions, noting that it goes beyond energy to protect health and the environment. Through a partnership with SEFA, BURN aims to scale affordable electric cooking solutions, leveraging blended finance to bridge funding gaps and attract private capital into carbon pre-finance projects.
The session featured two key panels. The first focused on scaling up blended finance for Africa’s energy transition, exploring the role of innovative financial approaches in improving project bankability. The second panel highlighted investment-ready opportunities from SEFA’s pipeline, showcasing projects across diverse sectors that demonstrate the effectiveness of the fund’s blended finance model.
With Japan’s addition to SEFA, the fund is better positioned to tackle the energy challenges facing Africa and support the continent’s clean energy goals.
