The Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) yesterday issued a gender-themed request for proposals (RFP) targeting women-led renewable energy projects in Africa.
By focusing on women in particular, UK-government funded REPP is aiming to channel sources of funding to help create equal opportunities for women in the continent’s rapidly expanding renewable energy sector.
The call follows a recent report by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor that found there are over 250 million women entrepreneurs globally, with the highest prevalence of emerging female entrepreneurs being in sub-Saharan African – and at more than double the global average.
However, businesswomen across the region face a raft of gender-specific challenges accessing finance, with the African Development Bank previously estimating a $20 billion financing gap for African women.
To address this, the RFP, which opened at 00:01 (UCT) today, is seeking applications exclusively from:
i) Majority woman-owned or managed private sector entities that have a renewable energy project under development; and/or,
ìí) Private sector entities or projects whose focus is to promote economic empowerment of women through enabling the productive use of energy for women as end users, and/or access to energy finance for female entrepreneurs.
Successful applicants stand to benefit from a host of financing services and support tailored to their unique circumstances and needs, ranging from technical assistance and capacity building to development loans, gap financing and access to risk mitigation instruments.
Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director at Camco Clean Energy, which manages REPP, said: “Women are central to the growth of a fair, affordable and clean energy future for Africa, but they are currently grossly underrepresented in the renewables sector, just as they are across the energy sector as a whole.
“REPP is seeking to address this damaging imbalance by calling for applications from projects where women are the leaders, the innovators and the beneficiaries, so that we can help provide access to funding to bring their plans to life and help unleash the immense opportunity women offer for economic and social development in Africa.”
The deadline for submitting applications is January 15, 2020 at 4pm (UCT). Detailed information about the application, evaluation and selection process can be found on the REPP website .
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