Energizing Finance

The report finds that global finance for energy access is insufficient, with electricity commitments reaching only half of the required USD 52 billion annually and clean cooking funding declining to USD 30 million. While electricity finance increased to USD 30.2 billion in 20 high-impact countries, it is heavily concentrated in Asia, particularly India, while Sub-Saharan Africa sees declining investments and a shift toward fossil fuels. Clean cooking remains severely underfunded, relying heavily on international grants. Case studies highlight India's success in mobilizing private finance for renewables and Indonesia's use of government subsidies to scale LPG adoption.

• Annual financial commitments for electricity access in 20 high-impact countries rose from USD 19.4 billion in 2013-14 to USD 30.2 billion in 2015-16, yet this remains far below the USD 52 billion per year estimated by the IEA as necessary for universal access by 2030.
• Finance for clean cooking is critically low and decreased by 5%, falling from USD 32 million in 2013-14 to USD 30 million in 2015-16, which is less than 1% of the USD 4.4 billion annual investment needed by 2030.
• There is a severe geographical imbalance in electricity finance; 86% of annual commitments went to just four countries (India, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Kenya), while seven Sub-Saharan African countries (Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Sudan) saw finance commitments drop by more than 50%.
• Investment in grid-connected fossil fuel plants in high-impact countries doubled to USD 8 billion per year in 2015-16, with coal plants specifically increasing from USD 2.8 billion in 2013-14 to USD 6.8 billion in 2015-16.
• China is the largest bilateral provider of electricity finance, accounting for 23% of total international finance to high-impact countries and 20% of all fossil-fuel related electricity investments.
• Off-grid solutions (OGS) saw finance commitments nearly double from USD 210 million to USD 380 million per year between 2013-14 and 2015-16, but they still represent only 1.3% of total tracked electricity finance.
• In India, domestic private investment in electricity surged from USD 1.6 billion in 2013-14 to USD 10 billion in 2015-16, largely driven by a government target of 175GW of renewable energy by 2022.
• Indonesia successfully shifted household cooking from kerosene to LPG through government subsidies averaging USD 1.8 billion to USD 2.3 billion per year between 2013 and 2016, increasing LPG use from 10.6% in 2007 to 72.4% in 2016.
• Clean cooking finance is overwhelmingly international (92%) and public (69%), with the majority of funds (72%) going to Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ethiopia and Kenya.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (n.d.). Energizing Finance. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/EF-2018-UL-SEforALL.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Energizing Finance. n.d. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/EF-2018-UL-SEforALL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Energizing Finance |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/EF-2018-UL-SEforALL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforallndenergizing, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Energizing Finance}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/gather-content/EF-2018-UL-SEforALL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }