This call has now closed
The ASCENT PPF is a USD 25M facility funded by the World Bank Group and hosted within the COMESA Secretariat’s Project Implementation Unit, with Cygnum Capital serving as PPF Manager. The Facility was created to address a persistent bottleneck in energy-access markets: the under-investment in project preparation that prevents promising companies from attracting commercial and catalytic financing.
Support available:
- On-demand technical assistance delivered through a prequalified Roster of Experts, covering areas such as feasibility studies, financial modelling and investment readiness, transaction advisory and legal structuring, digitalisation and credit risk management, ESG and E&S due diligence, carbon finance, and productive use of energy, among others.
- Grants of USD 50,000–200,000 (larger requests may be considered subject to enhanced due diligence), disbursed in tranches against pre-agreed milestones, for project preparation and business development activities directly linked to a financing transaction. Grant funding will be considered only where the required expertise is not available through the PPF Roster of Experts.
Please reference the Application Guidelines for additional information.
The window is open to private-sector DRE and clean cooking companies that:
- Are registered in at least one of the 16 eligible ASCENT countries (Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia);
- Have been in operation for at least three years, with paying customers and at least USD 250,000 for SHS and USD 150,000 for Minigrid, Clean Cooking and Productive Use Energy (PUE)
- Have an experienced management team, including a full-time CEO and at least one senior functional leader;
- Are actively engaged with one or more investors or lenders on a concrete financing transaction; and
- Can demonstrate a minimum of 20% co-financing (cash or verifiable in-kind, with in-kind capped at 10% of the total project budget).
Please note this window supports project preparation only; it does not fund primary technology development, proof-of-concept work, or standalone working capital. NGOs, research institutions, government ministries, UN agencies and other public-sector entities are not eligible as lead applicants.