Highlights

To speed up the energy transition in developing countries and fight climate change and poverty, more than 25 Dutch organizations have teamed up in the NL Energy Compact, headed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On 6 and 7 July 2022, FMO joined the NL Energy Compact in the Hague, and committed to the Compact’s joint ambition: “We will support people in low and middle-income countries to reach the SDG7 goals by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. We are presenting our ambition and commitment in the form of a multi-stakeholder energy compact engaging government, private sector, finance, civil society, academia, and youth. Together and individually, we will support a just and inclusive energy transition that is gender sensitive, locally led and globally connected”.  

In 2022 the Access to Energy Fund received a further payment of EUR 5 million (grant commitment signed in 2020). The fund’s total assets decreased from EUR 163 million (2021) to EUR 156 million (2022), partly due to lower valuations and impairments, but also due to the successful exit of Anergi Turkana.   

CQC

C-Quest Capital (“CQC”) is a diversified impact-investment enterprise, with operational platforms in various countries. It structures and finances carbon-based investment programs, providing investors with the opportunity to purchase carbon credits for the VERRA market, while realizing substantial social impact. CQC is one of the largest players in clean cooking, having distributed clean cooking stoves to over one million households since 2014.  

The AEF loan helps the deployment of clean cooking stoves and other carbon programs across various jurisdictions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clean cookstoves have a substantial impact on various SDG’s, incl. increased access to affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and reduction of GHG emissions (SDG 13). In addition, clean cooking stoves provide numerous health benefits (SDG 3), and reduce the labour burden for fuel collection (SDG 8), both particularly benefiting women (SDG 5).

Essor / AEE Power Ventures

AEF provides a Repayable Development Contribution to partially finance the development phase (the phase before construction) of the ESSOR mini-grid project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which aims to improve access to electricity in isolated cities by means of hybrid solar mini-grids. In due course, the project will implement three independent mini-grids in the cities of Bumba, Gemena and Isiro (each with a population of over 150k people) and is expected to electrify 58,000 households and 2,100 businesses.  

GOGLA 

GOGLA (Global Off-Grid Lighting Association) is the independent, not-for-profit industry association for the off-grid energy sector that promotes responsible business practices in the sector. FMO has signed a partnership agreement with GOGLA, partially financed through AEF. The funding will enable GOGLA to expand their work in -for example- financial transparency, consumer protection, e-waste and gender, which supports the development of industry standards.  

Gajam Group Limited UK (‘Dharma Life’)  

Dharma Life is a social enterprise operating in India, targeting the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Dharma Life does this through a model whereby women entrepreneurs sell products to rural households, including solar lamps and cooking stoves. Via an AEF Technical Assistance contribution, FMO aims to support Dharma Life in building their capabilities in three interrelated areas: i) strengthening Client Protection Principles, ii) enhancing the core finance function and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) compliance and iii) improving the credit risk management.