Photo: Niklas Sandström for Nefco

The environmental impacts of Nefco’s portfolio primarily comprise increased capacity for renewable energy and improved energy-efficiency, which leads to reduced or avoided greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reduced discharges of nutrients into water, seas and oceans. 

For example, energy efficiency projects that we financed in Eastern Europe achieved average heat savings of 33% and electricity savings of 49%.

49%

During 2023, Nefco cooperated with its new Nordic SME clients to promote human rights through its investments. Human rights-related actions were agreed on and included in the Environmental And Social Action Plans (ESAP) of five of the 12 investments agreed in 2023.

For some programmes, the number of people who benefit from the financed projects is used as a performance indicator. For example, the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) programme aims to establish up to 1.7 million energy connections by 2028, benefiting more than 8.6 million people in Africa. By the end of 2022, the first year of operation of BGFA projects, a total of 38,519 energy service subscriptions, serving 200,400 people, had been provided.

Similarly, in Eastern Europe, implemented street lighting projects had benefited more than a million municipal citizens, and ongoing district heating projects were estimated to be benefiting 220,000 citizens.

The Nordic Vision 2030 aims to make the Nordic Region the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. As a Nordic institution, Nefco prioritises sectors and activities in which we can add most value to the Nordic Vision.

Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals provide an action plan to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The goals address global challenges, including those related to the climate, environmental degradation, inequality and prosperity. Our financing activities contribute to most of the SDGs and the ones with major contribution are highlighted below.

Alternative Energy Technologies Group (Altech) is a Congolese-founded and managed company established in 2013 by two innovative entrepreneurs who grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania. The company is operating in 23 out of 26 provinces in the DRC, selling solar home systems and lighting solutions mainly to households through their 4,000 engaged sales agents. 

With Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) funding, Altech will further scale up its presence in the country, as well as expand its fleet of rental e-motorcycles and network of charging stations. The company’s aim is to establish up to 60,000 new energy service subscriptions and provide 1,000 rental e-motorcycles by 2027.

In addition to supplying affordable solar products and providing a rental service for e-motorcycles, Altech is planning to design and set up recycling infrastructure for off-grid solar products in the DRC. The planned project is expected to provide more than 300,000 people with access to electricity in remote areas. 

Full story: The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa signs first agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

“Nefco prioritises sectors and activities in which it can add most value to the Nordic Vision.”