Published: November 5, 2015
Norfund helping a rising Africa
A friendly fund
Norwegian development finance institution Norfund has a strong investment portfolio throughout Southern and Eastern Africa. This particularly applies across the power sector, which is currently a key point of focus. We profile some of its key projects.
In April this year, Norfund announced its plans to double or even triple its investments in sub-Saharan Africa’s power sector. This goal – which the fund aims to meet by 2020 – could radically improve the electrification of Africa, particularly in power-starved countries such as Ghana where only 5% of the rural population have access to electricity.
It was not the first time that Norfund’s African investments had been placed in the spotlight. As Norway’s state-owned development finance institution (DFI), Norfund is the government’s main tool for tackling poverty through private sector development. It has a long track record in providing capital allocations to sustainable commercial businesses, concentrating its investment in least developed countries (LDCs).
Within Southern and Eastern Africa, where it maintains three regional offices, the fund has been used to tackle projects ranging from