Top > Regional Affairs > Africa > TICAD > Illustrative List Of Ongoing and Pipeline Projects/Programs For African Development As a Reference Document for TICAD II > II. Economic Development : Promoting Private Sector(2.2 Industrial Development) > FINESSE Activities in the SADC Region

FINESSE Activities in the SADC Region
Project / Program Summary for TICAD II

I. Basic data

Sector(s): Energy - sustainable energy (renewable energy and energy efficiency)
Title: FINESSE Activities in the SADC Region
Donors: Funding in the amount of $1,238,000 is provided through the UNDP Energy Account and comes from NEDA (Netherlands Development Assistance) ($1,053,000) and the OPEC Fund for International Developments ($185,000)
Beneficiary countries/region:: SADC-region, in particular Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Implementing agency: SADC-TAU (SADC Energy Sector Technical and Administrative Unit) in collaboration with UNDP EAP
Implementing agency in beneficiary countries: Ministry of Energy
Duration: 5 years
Starting Date: September 1995
Project / Program budget: US$1,238,000
Finance / Type of cooperation: Technical cooperation

II. Project / program description

  1. Objectives
    FINESSE (Financing Energy Services for Small Scale End-users), aims at assisting recipient countries to identify and promote technically feasible and economically viable renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency services to residential, commercial, agro-industrial and institutional energy users. It is a piloting activity that aims at making financial resources of multilateral lending institutions available to small scale energy users who often have no means of accessing credit. Large multilateral financing institutions are encouraged to provide 'wholesale' loans to intermediary organisations such as commercial banks, utilities or NGOs. Through the implementation of the FINESSE concept, the multilateral financing institutions are able to provide financial resources to small-scale energy users without incurring high overhead costs in administering small loans. The intermediary organisation then provides loans at market rates to the potential small-scale energy end users.
  2. Activities / contents
    FINESSE activities in Africa, targeting initially countries of the Southern Africa's Development Community (SADC), commenced by developing market studies and business plans for the initial target countries Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The African Development Bank, the leading multilateral financing institution in the region had expressed interest to provide investments for business opportunities identified by the SADC FINESSE in these three countries. In addition to the AfDB, regional development banks have been closely following the project and have also indicated interest of follow up investments. In the second stage of the project, SADC FINESSE activities were expanded to cover Angola, Malawi and Namibia for the identification of investment opportunities and these activities were finalised at the end of June 1998.
  3. Expected outcomes / impacts
    The outputs of the SADC-FINESSE activities, i.e. sustainable energy business plans, were presented at national and regional workshops to discuss their commercial viability and to attract attention of potential investors. The following business plans were produced in the six countries:
    Angola
    • Solar PV;
    • Demand Side Management; and
    • Electricity from Solid Waste.
    Lesotho
    • Solar electricity for lighting, radio and/or TV;
    • Solar water heating systems; and
    • Energy efficiency in housing
    Malawi:
    • Biogas for Rural Communities;
    • Solar PV home systems; and
    • Mini-hydro development.
    Namibia
    • Solar Water Heaters, Solar Home Systems and PV pumps; and
    • Solar Water Heaters;
    South Africa:
    • Solar home systems in Kwazulu Natal;
    • Solar water heating systems in Midrand;
    • Energy efficiency in housing in Midrand; and
    • Energy efficient appliances (nation wide).
    Zimbabwe:
    • Solar power dissemination;
    • Solar water heating systems;
    • Micro hydro development; and
    • Energy efficiency in housing and appliances.
  4. Features in line with the Agenda for Action
    Using the successful FINESSE Programme in Asia as a model, the SADC FINESSE project was a first attempt to introduce the concept on the African continent. The experiences and lessons learned from the six SADC countries will be used to further expand FINESSE activities both in the SADC region and in the rest of the continent towards this end. UNDP is pursuing discussions with the AfDB.
    The SADC-FINESSE project draws heavily on the involvement of local partners in the region. The project has been implemented by SADC-TAU, the business plans were developed by national and regional consultants, the envisaged owners of the business plans are African organisations (private firms, parastatal organisations, NGO's) and lending is sought from African development finance institutions (AfDB, Development Bank of Southern Africa)

III. Contact point:

Dr. Suresh Hurry, Senior Technical Adviser, Energy and Atmosphere Programme/SEED/BDP
United Nations Development Programme
Address: 304 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
Tel. +1 212 906 6308, Fax. +1 212 906 5148, E-mail.suresh.hurry@andp.org

(End)

Back to Index