ISA’s Global Solar Facility Set To Receive Capital Aid of $35mn 

ISA’s Global Solar Facility Set To Receive Capital Aid of $35mn 

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) today announced that the Global Solar Facility (GSF), a payment guarantee fund formed by ISA to stimulate investments into solar power projects, is set to receive a capital contribution of $35 million dollars.

The Global Solar Facility (GSF) is designed to catalyse solar investments in underserved segments and geographies across Africa, unlocking commercial capital in the process. Last year, the ISA Assembly approved the Global Solar Facility, which is expected to attract private capital to flow into off-grid solar projects, rooftop solar projects, and productive use solar projects. 

This financing vehicle, bolstered by payment guarantees, insurance, and investment funds, aims to mitigate project risks, provide technical assistance to address regulatory gaps, reduce currency risks, and resolve contractual and financial uncertainties in the solar energy sector.

The India is considering a $25 million investment as capital contribution in the GSF in addition to $10 million coming from the ISA. Bloomberg Philanthropies and CIFF have also committed their support to the GSF.

Union Minister of Power and ISA President R K Singh said, “Global Solar Facility aims to leverage investments to accelerate transition to solar energy. The target for the GSF is to raise 100 million USD. Africa has immense potential in deploying solar energy capacities, yet due to risks in investments, the region has not been able to leverage its potential. The GSF aims to address this challenge and provide security to investments.” 

Director General of the ISA, Ajay Mathur said, “The GSF has been working towards crowd sourcing investments from various international donors. We are delighted to have the support of Indian government, CIFF and Bloomberg Philanthropies. This will enhance the confidence of investors to invest in decentralized solar application in Africa and enhance the certainty in receiving returns on their investments and could lead to a sea change in global investment patterns.”

The ISA highlighted that the GSF is expressly designed to provide investors with the confidence to take up projects in Africa and to enabling $10 billion in investments, which will further clean energy access in 35–40 million African households by 2030 and benefit around 200 million people in the region.