EUR 98 million invested
The Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund (EEP Africa) is a clean energy financing facility hosted and managed by the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) with funding from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, NDF, Norway and Switzerland. It is guided by a vision for a climate resilient, zero-carbon future with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The immediate objective is to enhance clean energy access, development, and investment, with a particular focus on benefitting vulnerable and underserved groups. EEP Africa provides risk tolerant early-stage grant financing for locally driven innovative clean energy projects, technologies and business and delivery models in Southern and Eastern Africa.
Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, NDF and Switzerland
EEP Africa requires a minimum of 30% cash co-financing. See Table 1for a summary. Exemptions exist for early-stage and mature as outlined in Sections 4.3.2 and 4.3.3. Please read the CfP 2025 Application Guidelines and Project Implementation Manual for more concrete guidance on financing.
The grantee shall permit and assist EEP Africa, NDF and other stakeholders or designated third parties to carry out monitoring, site visits, inspections and audits to the project. During the visits the grantee shall provide access to all relevant project material including project accounts and assist EEP Africa, NDF and their representatives in the verification of the project results and project costs. EEP Africa, NDF and their representatives have the right to perform monitoring or site visits, inspections and audits also after the Contract period and completion of the project. The same applies even if the Contract has been terminated.
The EEP Phase II management and implementation is coordinated by the KPMG (Finland) EEP Coordination Office (KPMG ECO) based in Pretoria, South Africa. In the participating countries National Coordinators are appointed from the Ministries of Energy to participate in Programme coordination at the country level, providing also insights of new energy innovations in a region.
Representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), The Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) are members of the Supervisory Board, which has the overall oversight of the Programme.
Private companies, start-ups and social enterprises from any country in the world with early-stage projects in one or more of the EEP Africa target countries (Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) are welcome to apply.
All applicants need to have strong local presence in the country(-ies) of application. The applicant should be based in the country, be locally led, or be an international company with strong local partnerships.
All applicants must be registered legal entities for at least six (6) months prior to the Expression of Interest opening date.
EEP Africa does not fund NGOs, Charities, Research Institutions, or government institutions (e.g., government ministries, UN agencies and national/provincial/district departments). However, these types of organisations can serve as project partners.
All applicants must meet the eligibility criteria defined in the CfP2025 Application Guidelines.
EEP Africa works in 15 countries across Southern and East Africa, including: Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
The application process is a two-stage process; Expression of Interest (EoI) and a detailed Full Proposal. After the EOI has been submitted, EEP Africa will hold a virtual bootcamp followed by pitching sessions for those applicants that are longlisted. Based on the pitch-interviews, applicants are shortlisted to proceed to full proposal stage.