The African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) has launched a $1.2 million innovation fund to support entrepreneurs in the local renewable energy space to start and diversify their business.
The fund will focus on solutions that reduce the negative impacts of traditional cooking options, build climate change resilience and support productive uses such as water pumping, cooling and refrigeration and agro-processing.
The AECF fund will help strengthen market readiness of emerging innovations and offer financial, technical and networking support to scale proven prototypes.
AECF CEO Victoria Sabula says the fund is hoping to unearrth new ways that renewable technology can generate income and create jobs.
The Innovation Fund is key to enhancing large scale transformation within local communities. Investing in affordable and accessible renewable energy solutions can create jobs, grow economies, and build more sustainable livelihoods. Through the fund, we hope to unearth new ways that renewable technology – be it domestic, communal, or commercial – can be used to generate income and create jobs.
AECF CEO Victoria Sabula
The innovation fund builds on AECF’s Renewable Energy and Adaptation to Climate Technologies (REACT) initiative, which seeks to boost private-sector efforts and expand clean energy in rural Africa. In 2020, the AECF, through REACT, launched an $8.5 million grant to support the adoption and diversification of renewable energy in Somalia and Somaliland. The Initiative sought to facilitate the switch from diesel-powered mini-grids to renewable energy sources.
The innovation fund will also launch in Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe.
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