Pamiga and Pamiga Finance - Water and Renewable Energy Through Microfinance in Africa - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Togo, United Republic of Tanzania

Pamiga and Pamiga Finances’ Water and Renewable Energy Through Microfinance initiative in East, Central and West Africa provides debt financing to households for potable water access, water irrigation systems for agriculture and renewable energy. This activity also provides financing for micro- and small-medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Fast facts:

This activity has a network of 16 microfinance institutions;
These microfinance institutions represent more than one million clients in 10 different African countries.

The problem

The majority of rural households and MSMEs in sub-Saharan African countries use kerosene lamps for lighting, which pollute the air and have harmful health consequences. Rural households and MSME’s also lack adequate financing to improve their lighting equipment.

The solution

Pamiga and Pamiga Finance developed an integrated approach using technical assistance and investment funding. The project seeks to demonstrate the viability, sustainability and replicability of a rural energy and water solutions value chain model. This activity aims to facilitate access to solar energy and water and also wants to create new financial products at the microfinance institution level.

Helping the planet

This activity substitutes traditional energy sources like kerosene for renewable energy, thus reducing CO2 emissions.

Helping people

Access to sustainable energy and water solutions significantly impacts the economy and the stability of the population, by relieving the rural population from rain-dependency and seasonal changes, enabling better monitoring of the crops and a more efficient use of water resources and contributing to protect the environment. This activity improves access to food and provide access to solar energy.

Scaling Up

All the projects are designed to be financially sustainable and profitable after the pilot phase. By involving microfinance institutions and helping them develop adapted financial services, the project will facilitate access to renewable energy and water solutions on a commercial basis, guaranteeing that installation and maintenance services will still be available after the completion of the project. Renewable energy loans are typically larger than the average loans that microfinance institutions offer, making them more cost effective. This activity will support partner microfinance institutions in elaborating financial projections while designing the new financial products, in order to make sure that they are financially sustainable. This will guarantee that microfinance institutions continue offering financial services for renewable energy and water solutions after the project is completed.