22 November 2013: The Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) of the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) held two workshops in October on clean energy financing in Asia and West Africa that highlighted over two dozen high-quality, bankable, socially beneficial clean energy projects.
The West African workshop took place in Accra, Ghana, on 8 October 2013 at the West Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing (WAFCEF), which gathered more than 80 participants from finance and clean energy to showcase 10 projects being assisted by CTI PFAN in the region, and to facilitate the uptake of further projects. SMEFunds, a bioethanol scale-up project in Nigeria was chosen as the winner of the WAFCEF business competition. The three runners up were Azuri West Africa, a West African solar light distribution business, Moyamba, a company dedicated to small hydropower expansion in Sierra Leonie, and Resolute Marine, which will use wave energy to desalinate water on Cape Verde.

The Asian meeting was held on 30 October in Singapore at the Asia Forum for Clean Energy Financing (AFCEF-4). It aimed to provide expert advice to project developers on project and business plan development. The 45 participants discussed 18 projects that had been selected for their commercial viability, stage of maturity and clean energy potential. These projects, most of which are looking for additional financing, have a combined potential to reduce over 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Project developers received advice on: revenue models; ability to scale; attractiveness to prospective investors; and risks and mitigation.

CTI PFAN is a multilateral, public-private partnership initiated by CTI in cooperation with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT). The African meeting was organized by CTI PFAN, the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and USAID’s Regional Clean Energy Investment Initiative (RCEII). The Asian meeting was organized with organized by CTI PFAN and Dawn Consulting, CleanEnergy Solutions International (CSI), PPL International, the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). [Press release for Africa event] [Press release for Asia event]