The African Development Bank (AfDB), through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), has approved $5 million in grant funding for the implementation of the Africa Super Energy Service Companies (ESCO) acceleration program – a vehicle to improve energy financing for public sector programs.
ESCO will be implemented in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa and will provide technical assistance regarding energy efficiency and green energy projects across public sector institutions,
The project will provide training to teams on how to operate Super ESCOs, support private ESCOs to develop Energy Performance Contract services as well as the development of regional certification schemes while supporting the three countries to boost the skilled energy efficiency workforce including energy auditors, managers and verification professionals.
The acceleration program is paving the way for a successful implementation of downstream energy efficiency investment programs in which the AfDB, SEFA and other stakeholders will invest, according to an AfDB statement.
Mohamed Chérif, AfDB’s Country Manager for Senegal, commented that, “Super ESCOs are an efficient tool that governments can draw on to leverage private sector resources to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities and other key energy-consuming sectors. I am pleased that Senegal will be one of the first countries to benefit from the Africa Super Energy Service Companies Acceleration Program.”
