Power Africa: Support for off-grid financing

The US Power Africa initiative’s Beyond the Grid programme on 20 June closed Round II of its Off-Grid Energy Challenge – a General Electric, US Agency for International Development and US African Development Foundation initiative, offering 18 $1.8m grants to developers of off-grid and small-scale renewables projects in each of the six Power Africa countries. Winners will be announced in mid-August. Beyond the Grid aims to facilitate investment in off-grid and small-scale power projects, and is specifically targeted at providing 20m new connections for households and businesses over a five-year period; it is partnering 27 companies that have committed to investing $1bn into off-grid and small-scale solutions.