The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa) and its partners have launched a business plan competition dubbed the West Africa Forum for Clean Energy Financing (Wafcef) to identify promising regional entrepreneurs and unlock renewable-energy and energy efficiency investments in West Africa.
Sponsors of the initiative included the US Agency for International Development’s Regional Clean Energy Investment Initiative, the Economic Community of West African States’ (Ecowas’) Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and the Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network.
Other strategic partners were the West African Development Bank and African Biofuels and Renewable Energy Company, affiliated with Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development.
Wafcef, which would assume a business plan competition format, aimed to identify and nurture entrepreneurs, start-ups and existing companies with promising clean energy projects in West Africa and serve as a conduit between them and financiers.
The competition was open to all businesses and entrepreneurs operating and registered in any of the Ecowas countries, as well as foreign individuals and entities with projects in those countries. To qualify for consideration, the projects would have to be in the range of $1-million to $50-million, and should reasonably demonstrate commercial and technical viability.
Shortlisted project developers would attend a project development and financing workshop and receive courtesy individual professional mentoring on further development of their business plans.
Wafcef would be held in Ghana’s capital Accra in early October. At the forum, five to ten qualified project sponsors would be afforded the opportunity to present their business plans to invited investors and make a pitch to secure financing.
As part of the competition, an expert panel, including investors, industry specialists and business executives would judge the finalists’ presentations and select the top three projects for the West African Clean Energy Financing Awards.