Bringing clean, affordable, off-grid energy access to millions

DRC is joining BGFA

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is joining BGFA as a new country programme. Sweden will support the expansion with EUR 20 million. It is expected that a Call for Proposals-based funding round will open in autumn 2022. 

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Programme overview

A new brochure gives an overview of the BGFA programme, the country specific targets and the funders. The overall programme aim is to establish up to 1.35 million energy connections and benefit more than 6 million people by 2028.

BGFA3 – Solar home systems and mini-grids in Uganda

BGFA3 is is expected to enable the establishment of up to 600,000 energy connections and benefit more than 3 million people in remote areas of Uganda. The call closed for Pre-Qualification submissions on 22 June 2021 and received 30 applications, of which 19 passed the internal completeness check.

The Pre-Qualification stage for BGFA3 has been completed and applicants passing the review stage has been invited through the SmartMe online system on 14 September 2021 to take part in the Final Application stage and submit full project proposals. The Final Application stage is expected to be completed by February 2022.

BGFA2 – Mini-grids in Mozambique

BGFA2 aims to accelerate access to affordable and clean off-grid energy for customers in peri-urban and rural areas of Mozambique. The BGFA2 call closed for Pre-Qualification submissions on 29 March 2021.

Of the 17 applications received, 10 have passed the initial, internal completeness check and undergone the process of evaluation and scoring of submitted concept notes by independent evaluators.

Of these, seven applicants have subsequently passed the Pre-Qualification stage and will be invited to the Final Application stage by end of 2021.

BGFA1 – Burkina Faso, Liberia and Zambia

The first Call for Proposals (BGFA1) targeted at Burkina Faso, Liberia and Zambia was launched in September 2020.

It received a strong response among energy service providers, and in December 2020, 46 applicants were invited to take part in the Final Application stage. BGFA1 evaluation has been concluded and highest scoring project proposals are now in the due diligence review stage. It is expected that first selected projects will be contracted by end of 2021.

Kick-starting markets for clean, off-grid energy in Africa

Building on the experience from an award-winning innovative approach tested in Zambia

BGFA was set-up in 2019 on the initiative of the Swedish Government, building on the successful, award-winning initial pilot phase in Zambia, the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ). BGFA is an ambitious multi-donor funding facility that aims to kick-start markets for clean, off-grid energy in Sub-Saharan African countries. It works through a combination of an innovative results-based financing mechanisms for energy companies, close cooperation with governments and real-time data collection and analysis.