Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape

The 'Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape' report analyzes financial commitments for electrification and clean cooking in 20 high-impact countries (HICs) across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for the year 2018. It finds that current investment levels are significantly below the requirements to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) by 2030, with a notable misalignment between where funds are allocated and where the greatest energy needs exist.

• Annual investment for energy access is significantly lower than the amounts required to achieve universal access by 2030. For residential electrification, only USD 16 billion was tracked in high-impact countries (HICs) in 2018, compared to a required USD 41 billion. Clean cooking finance increased from USD 48 million in 2017 to USD 131 million in 2018, yet this remains far below the estimated annual requirement of USD 4.53 billion.
• Financial commitments are not aligned with the regions of greatest need. In 2018, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounted for 70 percent of people in HICs without electricity, but received USD 3.3 billion in electricity access finance, which is less than 20 percent of the total finance for residential access in HICs. Six HICs with electricity access rates below 30 percent—Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo (DR), Madagascar, Malawi, and Niger—were in the bottom half of HICs for committed electricity finance. Additionally, 18 countries (excluding Bangladesh and Kenya) housing over 2.2 billion people without clean cooking access received only 25 percent of tracked investment; Congo (DR) and Ethiopia received less than 1 percent of their annual clean cooking needs.
• Investment trends show a shift toward fossil fuels and away from renewables and off-grid solutions. Fossil fuels represented the largest portion of electricity finance commitments to HICs for the first time in at least six years, primarily due to grid-connected projects in Bangladesh. Conversely, financing for grid-connected renewables declined for the first time since 2013, and finance for off-grid solutions and minigrids remained under 1-1.5 percent of total electricity finance.
• The energy access portfolio is dominated by a small number of providers and large projects, particularly in clean cooking. Bangladesh accounted for 47 percent of tracked clean cooking investment, largely through two projects funded by the Green Climate Fund and the World Bank Group. Private sector investment in clean cooking remains low, increasing from USD 21 million in 2017 to USD 32 million in 2018, and focuses on renewable fuels like LPG, biogas, and ethanol rather than the improved cookstoves (ICS) favored by public finance.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2020). Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/energizing-finance-understanding-the-landscape-2020/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape. 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/energizing-finance-understanding-the-landscape-2020/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape |date=19 November 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/energizing-finance-understanding-the-landscape-2020/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2020energizing, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/energizing-finance-understanding-the-landscape-2020/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }