The Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (OGEF) has reached its first close with committed capital of US$58 million from the African Development Bank, the Nordic Development Fund, the Global Environment Facility, Calvert Impact Capital and All On.

The Fund is part of the AfDB's sponsored Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), a US$500 million debt platform to catalyse capital markets support for innovative energy access strategies. OGEF’s first close follows the official launch of FEI at the Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP) in July 2018, where the initiative was presented to representatives of five African countries - Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Zambia - as well as leaders from the private sector and the development partner communities.

OGEF is designed to provide flexible debt instruments, predominantly oriented around local currency lending for consumer finance, to companies in the household energy access sector including distributors, manufacturers, and end-user credit providers. The Fund supports financially sustainable transactions that engage local capital markets to increase access to clean electricity for underserved households.

OGEF has received significant technical and financial support from key Bank partners, namely the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the United States Government’s Power Africa initiative and the Shell Foundation.

OGEF’s first close exemplifies this through the participation of Calvert Impact Capital and All On, and anticipation of additional future private sector investment.

LHGP Asset Management, a UK Financial Conduct Authority-regulated alternative fund manager, from Nairobi, Lagos and London, manages OGEF.