Launched in 2019, the renewAfrica Initiative is an industry-backed Initiative advocating for the creation of a European comprehensive programme for renewable energy investments in Africa to be promoted and owned by EU institutions. The ultimate goal of the 27 leading European actors supporting the Initiative from the whole the RE value chain, including manufacturing, IPPs, finance, trade associations and services sector with a sound experience in Africa, is to stimulate the EU to create and adopt a single and shared EU-led de-risking programme to build a pipeline of bankable RE projects across Africa in support of Africa’s clean energy development.
Context
Universal electricity access in Africa requires an increase of $120 billion investments per year up to 2040. Classic public financing channels will not suffice in mobilising such capital. In this context, private sector investment can help Africa overcome growing constraint in public finance and bridge the financing gap in Africa’s electricity infrastructure.
However, Africa’s electricity markets are still perceived as risky environments for private investors, so it is crucial to mitigate the range of real and perceived risks to increase the amount of capital invested and unlock RE investment across Africa. The European framework already provides a wide range of market-based European financing instruments; nonetheless, many of them are perceived by investors as fragmented in terms of support offered thus reducing their effectiveness in achieving the necessary scale and impact.
Mission
Led and promoted by RES4Africa, renewAfrica is an industry-backed Initiative advocating for the creation of a European comprehensive de-risking programme for renewable energy investments in Africa to be promoted and owned by EU institutions. The ultimate goal of the 27 leading European actors supporting the Initiative is to engage with the European Union institutions to propose a comprehensive, integrated, end to end approach as a viable tool to achieve EU ambitions. The approach reflects and builds on the accumulated expertise of leading private sector companies as an important contribution to the EU programming for Africa’s clean energy developments.
The future Programme should help create the conditions for the development of a sustainable pipeline of bankable RE projects and greater use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) models, aiming at delivering end-to-end support along the entire project lifecycle for all RE technologies, infrastructure and grids, in all African countries, with a focus on utility-scale projects. In renewAfrica’s view, four pillars would enable reaching this goal: policy dialogue, capacity building, technical assistance and financial de-risking.
