AfDB's FEI fund pulls $160m of commitments at first close

African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) – a targeted $400 million fund to improve energy access across Africa through small scale renewables and mini-grid projects – has reached a first close of $160 million. AfDB was anchor investor with $90 million and was joined by the European Commission (€25 million), KfW (€25 million) and Norfund (€23 million). FEI will also include a $10 million project preparation facility from the Global Environment Facility that will provide reimbursable grants for transaction advisory to facilitate financial close.

FEI is managed by LHGP Asset Management. Projects eligible for FEI investment are renewables schemes of less than $30 million capex and generation capacity below 25MW. Initial pipeline projects have been identified in Burundi, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique.