Results-based Financing
Innovative financing schemes are needed in the energy access sector to accelerate market development, leverage private sector investment and contribute to a green transition. Results-based Financing (RBF) is one instrument in EnDev’s toolbox that can deliver on all of these aspects and tackle longstanding and emerging challenges. This proven and effective approach will be critical to reach the millions of people who still cannot access energy that is both affordable and sustainable.
Go to the recently launched RBF Lessons Learnt Report 2021Taking RBF to the next level
RBF has been mainstreamed into EnDev’s toolbox of financial instruments and is implemented across its portfolio. EnDev has accumulated a wealth of experience, with insights into success factors and lessons learnt from applying RBF.
From these experiences, EnDev is able to serve as an incubator and a trusted source for innovation in the development of new types of RBF instruments in the energy access sector. EnDev has therefore partnered with two donors, the United States Agency for International Development and the Swiss Development Cooperation to design and pilot “next-generation RBF approaches.” These approaches will enable a more explicit targeting of poor and/or last-mile customers, facilitate the transition from output- to outcome-based payments and foster innovative cooperation models with new actors such as social impact investors. They also broaden the scope of technologies from largely domestic energy systems to products that contribute to economic development.
To engage with EnDev’s RBF projects, learn more about recent calls for proposals and new activities here.
EnDev’s RBF Facility (2013-2020)
In 2013, EnDev’s Results-based Financing Facility (RBFF) began as a large-scale pilot program with an impressive 17 projects across 14 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Funded by UK Aid with a total of 40 million GBP, the projects were managed on country level by implementing agencies (GIZ, CLASP, HIVOS, Practical Action and SNV) while the EnDev programme took over centralised portfolio management. Projects covered a wide range of modern energy technologies and worked with 500 firms, supporting the further development of energy access markets. From a pilot idea on a drawing board, RBF quickly became a broadly applied and acknowledged tool in the energy access sector by the time the RBFF phased out in 2020.
Outcomes of EnDev’s RBF Facility:
- 5.8 million people now have improved access to energy
- 1.4 million modern energy technologies (like clean cooking stoves, solar water heaters and biogas digesters) are now deployed
- 42,000 connections between users and clean energy sources have been installed through mini-grids, extensions and densification programs
- 7,000 jobs have been created
Further information
- EnDev RBF Lessons Learnt Report 2021 (updated version from 2018 Lessons Learnt Report below) ‘Transforming energy access markets with Results-based Financing – Lessons from 7 years of implementation under EnDev’s RBF Facility financed by UK Aid“
- EnDev’s publication ‘Giving RBF a voice’ is giving individual entrepreneurs a voice: 17 RBF private sector recipients are presented.
- The Knowledge Product ‘Rigorous Verification of Results: Value for Money or Waste of Time?’ describes the steps of a rigorous verification system.
- The brochure ‘Driving markets to scale’ gathers the lessons EnDev has learnt 2017 during the implementation of RBF projects in 14 countries.
- The brochure ‘Results-based Financing for Energy Access’ gathers the lessons EnDev has learnt 2018 during the implementation of RBF projects in 14 countries.
- The report “Pro-poor Results-based Financing – Increasing off-grid access to electricity in Rwanda” published by USAID provides a detailled summary of project outline, beneficiary stories and lessons learnt.
- Recordings of the RBF Facility’s webinar series and closing event 2020, can be accessed here.