An independent mid-term evaluation of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) confirms that the programme is delivering strong results in expanding access to off-grid clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The evaluation, carried out by Oxford Policy Management, confirms that BGFA is on the right track to reach its programme target of establishing 1.7 million new energy service subscriptions by 2028 across five countries; Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Uganda and Zambia. The evaluation also highlights that the programme has generated valuable insights and lessons for the sector and for future results-based financing programmes supporting the scale-up of clean energy.
Key strengths of the BGFA programme include strong additionality, flexibility and efficiency. BGFA enables companies to scale and adapt in challenging market conditions while continuing to serve underserved and hard‑to‑reach populations.
The evaluation also concludes that BGFA subsidies are unlikely to have distorted markets, a recognised risk in results‑based financing, since they are carefully targeted at segments where commercial solutions alone would not be viable.
At the same time, the evaluation identifies key areas for learning and improvement, including uneven performance across the BGFA project portfolio, ongoing affordability and business-related sustainability challenges, and the need to accelerate digital monitoring and verification, strengthen engagement with programme stakeholders, and clarify expectations around co-financing and selected indicators.
As fund manager of BGFA, we at Nefco welcome the evaluation and its findings:
“At its core, evaluation is about assessing an intervention’s merit and worth, understanding results and what they mean. This requires a benchmark tool, and for the BGFA programme this is the Theory of Change framework, reflecting the initially visioned scenario for the programme.
In practice, contexts change while implementation of a programme evolves. BGFA is designed to be highly adaptable, but this also requires continuously reconciling processes and project outcomes with reality. While this balance is not always straightforward, it brings together diverse perspectives and enables constructive dialogue. This is where evaluation plays a critical role – creating space for reflection and learning,” says Petra Mikkolainen, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager at Nefco.
Nefco, as Facility Manager of the programme, together with the implementation partners, supports the overall direction of the evaluation’s recommendations. We will prioritise the implementation of agreed actions, outlined in the management response (after the Executive summary), during the remaining implementation period. We will also ensure that lessons from the design and implementation of BGFA are shared widely with key stakeholders to support future results-based financing programmes.
For further information about the mid-term evaluation:
Visit beyondthegrid.africa and read the Mid-term evaluation of the BGFA programme.
For further information, please contact:
Petra Mikkolainen, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager, Nefco
petra.mikkolainen@nefco.int, +358 10 618 0588
Kari Hämekoski, Fund Manager of BGFA, Nefco
kari.hamekoski@nefco.int, +358 10 618 0660
Simon Trace, Evaluation Team Leader, Oxford Policy Management
simon.trace@opml.co.uk
Ed Day, Senior Evaluator, Greencroft Economics
ed.day@greencrofteconomics.com
About BGFA
The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) is a multi-donor facility established and managed by Nefco – the Nordic Green Bank. Nefco is an international financial institution based in Helsinki, Finland, focusing on environmental and climate investments and fund management. BGFA is implemented by Nefco, with the support of two project implementation partners: NIRAS, a development and engineering consultancy company headquartered in Denmark, and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), an international multilateral partnership based in Vienna, Austria.
The current EUR 110+ million BGFA programme was established in 2019 on Sweden’s initiative through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). It has since been developed by Nefco into a multi-donor programme funded by Denmark through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany through its development bank KfW, Norway through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Norad and Sweden. Read more at www.beyondthegrid.africa
Photo: A schoolgirl in the DRC who now can study after darkness – Jason Mulikita for BGFA / Nefco