ENERGIZING FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE

The report finds that energy access finance remains critically below the levels needed for SDG7, with a significant mismatch between where finance is committed and where the need is greatest. While electricity finance increased to USD 43.6 billion in 2018, much of this was driven by fossil fuel projects in a few countries, while Sub-Saharan Africa remains chronically underfunded. Clean cooking finance is even more limited, dominated by a few large projects in Bangladesh. The report advocates for a shift toward renewable energy, the termination of fossil fuel financing, and the adoption of innovative business models and gender-responsive tracking methodologies.

• Annual investment for universal residential electrification in high-impact countries (HICs) is estimated at USD 41 billion, but only USD 16 billion was tracked in 2018.
• Finance for clean cooking is severely insufficient, with 2018 commitments reaching USD 131.5 million, far below the estimated annual requirement of USD 4.53 billion.
• Investment is disproportionately distributed, with Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) receiving less than 20 percent of total electricity access finance in 2018 despite housing 70 percent of the HIC population without electricity.
• Fossil fuel electricity finance increased significantly in 2018, becoming the largest portion of electricity finance commitments to HICs for the first time in at least six years, largely due to projects in Bangladesh.
• Finance for grid-connected renewables in HICs declined in 2018 to USD 18.0 billion from USD 21.9 billion in 2017, marking the first decline since 2013.
• Investment in off-grid and mini-grid solutions remains very low, representing less than 1-1.5 percent of total tracked electricity finance.
• Clean cooking finance is highly concentrated; in 2018, Bangladesh alone accounted for 47 percent of total tracked investment and 78 percent of all public finance.
• Private sector investment in clean cooking is limited, increasing only marginally to USD 32 million in 2018, and tends to flow toward modern fuels like ethanol, biogas, and LPG rather than improved cookstoves.
• Rwanda is highlighted as a successful example of using policy reform, such as a national electrification plan and utility restructuring, to increase electricity access from 10 percent in 2010 to 35 percent in 2018.
• Development finance for energy projects with a gender equality objective is low, representing only 9 percent of total energy sector development finance in 2018.

APA

Meattle, C., Richmond, M., Furio, V., Mazza, F., Sinha, J., Linstaedt, J., & Dreyer, C. (2020). ENERGIZING FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE. Sustainable Energy for All. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2020-11/EF-2020-UL-SEforALL_0.pdf

Chicago

Meattle, Chavi, Morgan Richmond, Valerie Furio, Federico Mazza, Jolly Sinha, Jakub Linstaedt, and Caroline Dreyer. ENERGIZING FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE. Sustainable Energy for All, 2020. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2020-11/EF-2020-UL-SEforALL_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Meattle |first1=Chavi |last2=Richmond |first2=Morgan |last3=Furio |first3=Valerie |last4=Mazza |first4=Federico |last5=Sinha |first5=Jolly |last6=Linstaedt |first6=Jakub |last7=Dreyer |first7=Caroline |title=ENERGIZING FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE |publisher=Sustainable Energy for All |date=2020 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2020-11/EF-2020-UL-SEforALL_0.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{meattle2020energizing, author = {Meattle, Chavi and Richmond, Morgan and Furio, Valerie and Mazza, Federico and Sinha, Jolly and Linstaedt, Jakub and Dreyer, Caroline}, title = {{ENERGIZING FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANDSCAPE}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2020-11/EF-2020-UL-SEforALL_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }