The United Nations Capital Development Fund and Annycent Capital have signed a Statement of Intent to mobilize public and private capital for high-impact renewable energy projects in Least Developed Countries and other developing African markets. The partnership aims to accelerate investment by developing innovative financing solutions that support the secondary renewable energy market while strengthening domestic and regional capital markets.
Although Africa has made progress in renewable energy deployment, limited access to long-term capital continues to constrain sector growth. A major challenge is the absence of a well-capitalized secondary market for renewable energy projects after construction and once operations begin, which keeps early-stage risk capital locked in projects longer than intended and limits the development of new initiatives.
The collaboration is designed to mobilize and de-risk new investment flows into Africa’s secondary renewable energy market, enabling the recycling of capital into new projects. It will focus particularly on countries that receive limited private investment, including Least Developed Countries such as Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
Through the targeted use of concessional and blended finance instruments, the partnership seeks to crowd in private capital, improve secondary market liquidity, and support the development of additional renewable energy projects. These efforts are expected to contribute to job creation, market growth, and greater economic resilience across participating countries.
Leaders from both organizations emphasized that Africa’s energy transition is constrained more by capital flow and recycling challenges than by a lack of viable projects. By combining UNCDF’s mandate for catalytic finance with Annycent’s expertise in climate investment, the partnership aims to unlock investment at scale and build a sustainable project development ecosystem anchored in a functioning secondary market.
The Statement of Intent establishes a framework for joint engagement to design and scale blended finance solutions that leverage the strengths of both institutions, catalyze investment in priority markets, and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
