The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has hired Zafiri, a new decentralised renewable energy (DRE) equity investment vehicle targeting small-scale and decentralized renewable energy, to expand access to electricity and clean cooking solutions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
This is part of Mission 300, a joint initiative of the World Bank Group and African Development Bank, to provide first-time electricity access to 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
Zafiri’s based in Zanzibar and has founding partners – the IFC, AfDB, The Rockefeller Foundation, Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group) and Nordic Development Fund (NDF).
Ethiopis Tafara, IFC Vice President for Africa, said a key challenge slowing Africa’s energy transition, is the lack of equity financing for distributed energy companies.
The company is expected to provide concessional junior equity to de-risk private sector participation and mobilize commercial capital into scalable off-grid and decentralized energy solutions.
Backed by an initial $300 million capitalization by 2026, Zafiri is expected to scale up to $1 billion to accelerate energy access in Africa.
Operations will commence in early 2026.