Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019

The 2019 Energizing Finance report reveals a significant funding gap for SDG7, with electricity and clean cooking investments falling far short of universal access needs. While electricity finance hit a record USD 36 billion in 2017, most went to grid-connected renewables and non-residential users, leaving off-grid solutions and Sub-Saharan Africa underfunded. Clean cooking finance collapsed by 73% in 2017 to USD 32 million. The report emphasizes the need for innovative financing and targeted support for vulnerable groups, particularly women.

• Finance for electricity in the 20 high-impact countries (HICs) reached a record USD 36 billion in 2017, but this is significantly below the estimated annual requirement of USD 51 billion needed for universal household access by 2030. Only USD 12.6 billion, or one-third of the 2017 total, is estimated to have benefited residential consumers.
• Investment in clean cooking saw a severe decline, dropping 73 percent in 2017 to USD 32 million compared to the 2015-2016 annual average of USD 117 million. This is far below the estimated annual investment requirement of USD 4.4 billion.
• Electricity finance is heavily skewed toward grid-connected renewables, which accounted for 61 percent of all tracked finance in 2017. Conversely, off-grid solutions and mini-grids (OGS) represent a small fraction, accounting for only 1.2 percent of total electricity finance at USD 430 million in 2017.
• Regional disparities are evident, with India and Bangladesh receiving nearly two-thirds (USD 24 billion) of total electricity financing in 2017. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa remains under-invested; while total electricity finance for 13 analyzed African countries rose to USD 9.6 billion in 2017, this was largely due to a single USD 5 billion hydropower plant in Nigeria.
• International public finance for clean cooking reached a new low of USD 10.6 million in 2017, falling from a 92 percent share of all tracked clean cooking finance in 2015-2016 to just 33 percent. Private finance increased its share to 66 percent, reaching approximately USD 21 million, driven by corporate equity investments.
• Finance specifically targeted at women in energy activities is limited; in 2017, only 7 percent of the USD 14 billion annual official development assistance (ODA) for energy in developing countries was specifically targeted to benefit women.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2019). Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-10/EF-2019-UL-ES-SEforALL.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019. 2019. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-10/EF-2019-UL-ES-SEforALL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019 |date=2019 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-10/EF-2019-UL-ES-SEforALL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2019energizing, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2019}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-10/EF-2019-UL-ES-SEforALL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }