African renewable energy initiative reaches full commitment on $20m investment

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The US-Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) initiative, launched in 2012 with an initial investment of US$20 million, has announced it has reached commitment of 100 per cent of the initial project funds.

ACEF, designed to support early-stage projects in catalysing private-sector investment in the renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, was launched in 2012, with secretary of state John Kerry in August last year announcing the US State Department’s intention to invest an additional US$10 million.

“The ACEF programme is designed to help promising clean energy projects develop into viable candidates for financing by providing small amounts of early-stage funding for essential inputs, such as technical and feasibility studies,” ACEF said.

“ACEF serves a catalytic role to advance these projects and help attract private sector follow-on investment, which can help to fuel low-carbon economic growth in the region.”

Funds have been committed to 30 renewable energy projects in 10 African countries since the programme’s launch, with ACEF saying the initial US$20 million of funding has the potential to lead to more than 400 megawatts (MW) of new renewable power in Africa, mobilising more than US$1.5 billion in project capital.

The projects span a wide breadth of activities designed to address Africa’s energy challenges, including large- and small-scale projects, both connected to central power grids and serving rural, off-grid communities.

“ACEF is an excellent example of how we can use limited public resources to leverage the private financing necessary to fuel low-carbon growth in developing countries – a key step in meeting the challenge to address climate change,” said Todd Stern, US special envoy for climate change at the US State Department.

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Passionate about the vibrant tech startups scene in Africa, Tom can usually be found sniffing out the continent's most exciting new companies and entrepreneurs, funding rounds and any other developments within the growing ecosystem.

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