Cape Town, South Africa— A new $176 million energy investment vehicle aimed at tackling one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most persistent development challenges—access to electricity—has been officially launched at the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town.
The fund, known as Zafiri, will channel long-term capital into distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions, including mini-grids, solar home systems, and clean cooking technologies. Backers say the initiative could help expand electricity access to as many as 30 million people while stimulating economic activity in underserved regions.
Managed by Inspired Evolution, Zafiri brings together a coalition of multilateral institutions, development finance institutions, philanthropic organizations, and private sector investors. Founding shareholders include International Finance Corporation, African Development Bank Group, The Rockefeller Foundation, Trade and Development Bank Group, Nordic Development Fund, MacArthur Foundation, and FirstRand Limited.
The launch positions Zafiri as a key financing mechanism supporting Mission 300, a major electrification drive co-led by the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank, which aims to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030.
Unlike traditional infrastructure funds, Zafiri is structured as a blended finance vehicle with a permanent capital base, allowing it to deploy “patient equity” into early-stage and scaling energy companies. This approach is intended to address a chronic shortage of long-term risk capital in Africa’s off-grid energy sector.
At least half of the fund’s capital will be directed toward high-impact solutions such as mini-grids and solar home systems—technologies widely seen as critical to reaching rural and remote populations beyond the reach of national grids.
Officials involved in the initiative emphasized the importance of private sector participation in accelerating electrification. They noted that distributed renewable energy is expected to account for at least 50% of new electricity connections across the region by the end of the decade.
Zafiri’s backers also see the fund as a catalyst for broader economic transformation. By improving access to reliable electricity, the initiative is expected to support small businesses, create jobs, and enable productive uses of energy in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Following its initial $176 million close, Zafiri aims to raise an additional $124 million within the next year, with longer-term ambitions to scale the platform to $1 billion.
Stakeholders say the fund’s blended finance structure—combining public, philanthropic, and private capital—could help de-risk investments in underserved markets and unlock significantly larger flows of commercial funding into Africa’s renewable energy sector.
As governments and development partners intensify efforts to close the continent’s energy access gap, Zafiri’s launch signals a growing shift toward innovative financing models designed to bridge the divide between impact and investment returns.
