The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have agreed on a €3-million technical assistance programme to assist banks in financing small-scale renewable-energy and energy efficiency projects in South Africa.
The finance would be provided by Seco, managed by AFD and hosted by the South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi), which would support Seco and AFD in identifying and assessing green projects.
The technical assistance would also assist the banks and Sanedi with capacity building for renewable-energy projects for a period of three years.
The technical assistance programme was complementary to a contemplated credit facility of €120-million to be financed by AFD to the benefit of partner banks and institutions. The facility would provide long-term low-interest loans adapted to renewable-energy and energy efficiency projects which faced difficulties in accessing funding.
The potential partners, the Industrial Development Corporation and Nedbank, would be in charge of lending directly to the companies according to criteria such as the size of the project and the environmental impact of the projects.