Seed Capital Assistance Facility (SCAF)

Securing financing from the private sector for projects aimed at mitigating CO2 emissions in emerging and developing countries is very challenging. Firstly, private investors are reluctant to take on major risks. Secondly, the high fees charged for credit on international capital markets also makes project development more difficult. As a multi-donor trust fund, SCAF improves the financing of projects during the development phase to enable the rollout of climate-friendly technologies. This helps to promote sustainable, low-carbon development as well as economic growth while tackling poverty and working to contain climate change. The spectrum of funding programmes ranges from financial support for feasibility studies and business plans in the pre-investment phase through to the co-financing of approval procedures as well as due diligence audits in the later stages of the project development phase. The current geographical focus is on Asia and Africa.

Project data

IKI funding: 16,100,000.00 €
Duration: 11/2014 till 09/2027
Status: open
Implementing organisation: United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)
Implementing Partner: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management gGmbH
Online: http://www.scaf-energy.org

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State of implementation/results

By the end of 2023, SCAF II has signed 22 Agreements with Cooperating Partners (CPA). In total, 40 projects in 18 developing countries were directly supported, with a total capacity of 2,581 MW.
In 2023, two new agreements were signed with Tatanga Energy and East Africa Power, both receiving support under Support Lines (SL) 1 and 2.
Support Line 1 (Pipeline Development Support):
- In 2023, 12 new projects received support through SL1-co-financed activities, receiving early development support and increasing the total number of SL1 projects to 91 and totaling 5,475MW.
- To date, two SL1 supported projects have reached financial close (both in Malawi developed by JCM totaling 70MW). Of the supported SL1 projects, 16 of the projects to-date have moved into SL2.
Support Line 2 (Seed Capital Co-financing):
- In 2023, six additional projects received support through SL2 co-financed activities, receiving seed finance for early- and mid-stage development and increasing the total number of projects under SL2 to 40. Once materialized, these projects will have a projected capacity of 2,581 MW.
- To date, in total six SL2-funded projects have reached financial close: These projects were brought forward by Dam Nai-Wind (Vietnam, The Blue Circle); Tarlac (Philippines, Sindicatum), Dai Phong (Vietnam, The Blue Cirle); GZH (Zimbabwe, VS Hydro), Kodéni (Burkina Faso, Africa REN), Walo Storage (Senegal, Africa REN). These projects have a capacity of 200 MW. Of this, three SL2 projects supported by SCAF (Greenwish and Levanta Renewables) sold their projects to new investors.
Of the support received under SL0 and SL2, SCAF partners have returned over USD 3 million by end of 2023.

Project Highlights

In December 2023, Africa REN’s Kodéni PV project (38 MW) in Burkina Faso was inaugurated with the Government of Burkina Faso and is fully operational. Kodéni is a 38 MW Solar PV Power Plant near Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. It is the largest PV power plant and the first public-private partnership to reach financial close in the country. Support Line 2 Co-financing provided by SCAF to Africa REN was used for Kodéni to match costs for legal fees, technical studies, setting up the Environmental and Social Management System and Environmental and Social Management Plan.
In June 2023, the Walo Storage Project by Africa REN reached financial close and is currently clearing lender conditions precedent. As the first battery storage project in West Africa dedicated to frequency regulation, Walo Storage is designed to stabilize the local grid and reduce blackouts. In addition, 16 MW of clean electricity will be generated through the adjacent PV plant. Funding of up to € 32 million in syndicated debt will be provided by FMO and Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, acting through Ninety One. scaf-energy.org/…

Knowledge series and events

In 2023, SCAF has started its “knowledge series”, including Podcasts, knowledge papers and blogs on specific topics such as sector barriers, funding gaps or real and perceived risks in relation to clean energy project development in developing countries of Africa and Asia: scaf-energy.org/…
In 2022 and 2023, the SCAF team attended Africa Energy Forum in Brussels (21-23 June 2022) and in Nairobi (20-23 June 2023)
The SCAF team virtually attended the Africa Wind Energy event (16th November 2022) and introduced SCAF followed by Q&A.
On 13/14th December 2022 the SCAF Agent participated in a workshop on “Leveraging private capital for climate investments in the Global South” at BMWK’s offices in Berlin.
The SCAF team attended the Asia Clean Energy Summit (24-26 October 2023) in Singapore.

Latest Update:
03/2025