The African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has launched a new Call for Proposals under its recently established Green Hydrogen Programme, inviting private sector entities across Africa to apply for support for green hydrogen and derivative projects. This initiative is aimed at advancing clean energy development on the continent and encouraging private sector participation in the emerging green hydrogen sector.
The Green Hydrogen Programme was approved at the end of 2025 and was initially capitalised through funding from the German government. Under this new call, the programme will provide pre-investment financing of up to $20 million in total for three to five of the highest-ranked projects selected through the competitive process, subject to successful due diligence.
The financial support will generally be offered in the form of reimbursable grants. These grants are intended to cover advisory services that help projects progress toward critical milestones such as the Final Investment Decision and financial close. Eligible support may include feasibility studies, engineering design work needed before procurement and construction, as well as transaction advisory services.
According to Dr Daniel Schroth, Director of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department at the African Development Bank, green hydrogen presents a significant opportunity for Africa to decarbonise hard-to-abate industries while also creating new value chains and supporting socio-economic development. He noted that the SEFA Green Hydrogen Programme is specifically structured to help move projects from the development stage toward bankability in a sector that still requires careful and rigorous support.
The application window for the Call for Proposals opens on 10 April 2026 at 09:30 GMT. Interested applicants must submit their proposals through the SEFA website no later than 11 May 2026 at 17:00 Abidjan time. Detailed information, including eligibility requirements and the application questionnaire, is available on the official application platform.
SEFA is a multi-donor special fund that works to unlock private sector investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency across Africa. It provides catalytic finance through technical assistance and concessional finance instruments designed to remove market barriers, strengthen project pipelines, and improve the investment attractiveness of renewable energy initiatives. Its broader mission is to support universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services across the continent in line with Mission 300.
