( AfDB) - The African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is providing a $965,000 grant to Morocco’s Société d’Ingénierie Energétique (SIE), to support its transition into the first Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) initiative in Africa

“This support from the African Development Bank will enable the operationalization of the new SIE as a Super ESCO, thus creating a model well aligned with the needs of the country’s energy efficiency sector,” said Ahmed Baroudi, SIE’s Chief Executive Officer.

Amid growing demand, Morocco aims to meet its energy needs by combining large-scale energy efficiency strategies and renewable energy investments. Super ESCOs are vehicles for channelling funds into public sector energy efficiency investments such as hospitals, schools, and street lighting, laying the foundation for private investment later in the commercial and industrial sectors.

As a Super ESCO, the SIE should be able to overcome many of the challenges in scaling up energy efficiency investments. It will also open market opportunities for local ESCOs, offer quality assurance support and build their reputation among end-users and investors.

The grant will provide SIE with operational tools to develop a pipeline of bankable energy efficiency investment projects, said Brice Mikponhoue, Officer in Charge at the North Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office of the African Development Bank.

“The implementation of Super ESCOs on the continent will gradually contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the energy efficiency financing ecosystem. The African Development Bank is proud to support the first Super ESCO in Africa and looks forward to supporting further projects in the future,” said Jalel Chabchoub, Chief Investment Officer and Energy Efficiency Specialist in the Department of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the African Development Bank.

About SEFA: SEFA is an African Development Bank-managed special fund, providing finance for renewable energy. SEFA’s overarching goal is to contribute to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services for all in Africa, in line with the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7. SEFA was established in 2011 in partnership with the Government of Denmark and has since received contributions from the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden, the Nordic Development Fund and Germany. SEFA is housed in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Department (PERN) under the Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth (PEVP) complex.