Clean Energy Investment for Development in Africa

This report on financing clean energy investments in Africa was requested by the Italian presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) to support the presidency’s new Energy for Growth in Africa initiative. This initiative builds upon existing G7 efforts to promote energy and climate investment in Africa and seeks to develop bankable clean energy projects, attract public and private capital, encourage concessional finance, and overcome investment barriers across Africa.

This report aims to inform the G7 initiative by providing an overview of the energy-related investments needed to achieve all African energy and climate-related goals, including universal energy access and its nationally determined contributions, by 2030. It then explores how clean energy projects can best be financed, focusing on three key investment pillars: household access to modern energy; the electricity sector; and emerging industries.

Finally, it identifies the main types of initiatives needed to develop human and institutional skills and capabilities across Africa, without which the financing of clean energy will remain a challenge in many countries. With energy vital to Africa’s long-term prosperity and the need for investment in clean energy technologies in Africa never being more urgent, this report comes at a critical time and lays the foundations for coordinated financing efforts between governments of African countries and developed nations, international financial institutions, and development organisations.