NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The heads of the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group are pleased to invite you to their webinar series this Thursday, April 22nd, at 4pm. They will discuss the challenges and opportunities for clean energy in Ethiopia from the lens of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) as a key stakeholder promoting energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance:

Challenges and Opportunities for clean energy in Ethiopia

Ethiopia represents one of the largest off-grid markets in sub-Saharan Africa. This, in turn, means that Ethiopia is one of the largest markets for clean energy expansion. Given the challenges and needs in terms of energy access, UNCDF, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Development Bank of Ethiopia and Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, launched a credit risk guarantee scheme. This financing mechanism aims to leverage pipeline development and secure financing for off-grid energy companies. One of the challenges of this scheme is the low uptake of the guarantee facility as well as pay-as-you-go services and microfinance lending to end-users. This situation contrasts with other markets such as Nepal or Uganda, where pay-as-you-go services or microfinance are well established. On the other hand, the government has defined the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions as a key factor in becoming a middle-income country. To achieve this goal, the coordinated intervention of stakeholders is necessary. In this regard, UNCDF’s IDE Energy program brings significant value in both developing Ethiopia’s energy market and strengthening partnerships between financial institutions and clean energy companies.  Seifu Teshome from UNCDF will present his experience in supporting energy and microfinance linkages in Ethiopia and UNCDF’s role as a key stakeholder in promoting energy access in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaker: Seifu Teshome, UNCDF

Moderator: Davide Forcella, Head of GICSF AG, YAPU Solutions, CERMi

Time: 4:00 PM CET / 10:00 AM EST