In 2017, SEforALL launched its Energizing Finance research series - the first and only in-depth attempt to capture multiple years of data on investment in 2 key areas of energy access: electrification and clean cooking. It focuses on public and private finance commitments in HICs – that together account for nearly 80% of those living without access to sustainable energy. This enables policymakers and investors to begin to track progress in scaling up energy access finance to meet SDG7.
The inaugural 2017 series comprised 3 related research reports:
- Understanding the Landscape 2017 tracked and analyzed finance flows for electricity and clean cooking access in HICs, averaged per annum across 2013-14
- Missing the Mark examined gaps and lags in disbursement and absorption of development finance commitments on energy access in key Sub-Saharan Africa and Asian countries
- Taking the Pulse investigated energy access finance needs in five countries – Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Nigeria – to elucidate actions required to scale up decentralized renewable electricity and clean cooking solutions. The financing, policy and operating needs of enterprises delivering energy access will be critical to achieve SDG7.
The 2017 Energizing Finance report series was brought together by a policy paper entitled Energizing Finance: Scaling and Refining Finance in Countries with Large Energy Access Gaps. This offers recommendations to support governments and development finance institutions boost financial commitments – and to allocate it more effectively to help achieve universal energy access for all by 2030.
This report aims to advance the understanding of finance directed toward the developing world’s energy sectors, covering both electricity and clean cooking.
This study illustrates how enterprises delivering access to electricity and clean cooking are being financed in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar and Nigeria.
This report is specifically geared for government leaders, public/private finance players and energy access enterprises that play critical roles in catalyzing action on access to electricity and clean cooking.
The report’s most significant wake-up call is that between 2011 and 2015, only about a quarter of electricity access finance - 28 percent of commitments and 24 percent of disbursements - went to high-impact countries.