A major new financing facility that will make it easier for Caribbean businesses to access credit to implement renewable energy solutions was launched in Barbados today.
The Credit Risk Abatement Facility (CRAF) has been developed by the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF), in collaboration with the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Its primary objective is to provide an incentive to local financing institutions to lend additional money to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives.
Camco acted as a consultant during the first phase of the facility’s development, which sought to establish an instrument and supporting pillars for the CRAF and was completed in July 2018. Camco was subsequently contracted to help the CDF to finalise key design elements of the CRAF – including a Technical Assistance Program (TAP), Credit Risk Instrument (CRI) and a Monitoring and Evaluation framework and plan.
Camco also provided assistance during Phase 2, culminating in the launch of the Pilot Phase of the CRAF today. Preparing for the launch of the pilot required finalising the institutional design, governance and corporate structure for the CRAF, including drafting all associated policies and procedures and documenting all relevant business processes, and providing assistance for the initial resource mobilisation of the facility. An initial transaction pipeline has also been prepared and the first CRAF financing partners and energy service providers are being onboarded.
Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director at Camco, said: “Today’s launch of the CRAF marks what I hope will prove to be a significant step in the Caribbean’s clean energy journey.
“Access to finance is one of the greatest barriers preventing the scaling up of clean energy solutions pretty much everywhere. The CDF’s ground-breaking facility is addressing that problem head on by effectively making it easier for SMEs to take up renewable energy and energy efficiency investment opportunities across the Caribbean region.”
Today’s unveiling of the CRAF was part of a wider launch intended to support the development and financing of sustainable energy projects within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). During the event, the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) launched the Project Preparation Facility (PPF), which has been established to tackle barriers to the development of high-quality sustainable energy projects across CARICOM.
Speaking at today’s event, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley said the two new facilities would help clean energy developers get “from idea to investment”.
Read the CDF/CCREEE press release here for more.