African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $5.65 million grant to fund Peace Renewable Energy Certificate (P-REC) mini-grid projects across 14 African countries, aiming to provide electricity to 856,000 people.
This is contained in a statement on the bank’s website on Wednesday.
The initiative will deploy renewable energy certificates as a direct funding instrument for a portfolio of mini-grids in Africa’s most fragile and energy-poor countries, the Bank said.
Co-financed with an equal contribution of $5.65 million from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), the $11.3 million facility will be managed jointly by Camco Clean Energy, a climate and impact fund manager, and Energy Peace Partners (EPP), a US-registered non-profit that developed the Peace Renewable Energy Certificate label.
The certificates are sourced exclusively from small-scale mini-grid projects in conflict-affected and energy-poor communities and are purchased voluntarily by multinational corporations seeking to maximize the social and environmental impact of their sustainability investments.
The facility will enter long-term purchase agreements with eligible mini-grid developers across 14 frontier countries: Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda.
Developers will receive upfront cash payments in exchange for the rights to the certificates produced, which the facility will then sell to global corporate buyers, channeling hard currency into markets where commercial financing is scarce.
What stakeholders are saying
Access to capital remains a critical barrier to rural electrification in Africa, especially in fragile and conflict-affected regions.
Key stakeholders, including the African Development Bank’s SEFA, the Nordic Development Fund, Camco, and Energy Peace Partners, are backing the innovative Peace Renewable Energy Certificate (P-REC) Aggregation Facility.
- João Duarte Cunha, Manager, Renewable Energy Funds Division and SEFA, AfDB: “Lack of access to capital for rural electrification continues to be a major hurdle for universal energy access in the African continent, particularly in countries experiencing conflicts and fragility. This is the kind of market-making needed to advance Mission 300 objectives.”
- Satu Santala, Managing Director, Nordic Development Fund: “Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa facing fragile and conflict-affected situations urgently need support and access to clean, reliable energy solutions. By supporting this initiative, we also strengthen the role of Nordic climate leadership—working in partnership, through innovation and responsibility, to advance sustainable energy solutions where they are needed most.”
- Geoff Sinclair, CEO, Camco: “PAF will provide additional low-cost, non-dilutive capital to energy access projects in fragile states. In doing so, it will provide more communities with access to the benefits of clean energy, boosting jobs, opportunities, and living standards. Camco is pleased to be working with EPP, SEFA and NDF on this important initiative.”
- Sherwin Das, Managing Director, Energy Peace Partners: “The majority of people on the continent without access to electricity live in fragile and conflict-affected countries where renewable energy projects can have outsize impacts – improving health, education, safety and security outcomes. The P-REC Aggregation Facility, based on EPP’s Peace-REC label, can accelerate that transition by converting corporate climate ambition into upfront capital for renewable energy developers who would otherwise struggle to close their project.”
What you should know
In 2025, Nigeria and a United Nations agency set a $500 million target for a fund that would be accessed by local developers of renewable energy.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said it deployed more than 200 mini-grids across underserved communities nationwide in 2025.
The P-REC Aggregation Facility will serve as a pilot to scale corporate-backed renewable energy funding in Africa’s fragile regions.
