A6: Investing in difficult places: bringing the private sector into fragile areas

Places are fragile when governments cannot provide sufficient support to enable people to effectively respond to shocks typically caused by conflict, environment and increasingly, climate. This lack of an effective enabling environment dissuades investors and causes population movements that makes a difficult operating environment worse. Many of the people who are still without access to energy in sub Saharan Africa live within these fragile regions, highlighting the importance of finding ways to motivate investors and enterprises to develop innovative products and business models that can survive in testing conditions.  The "Investing in difficult places" session aims to highlight the challenges and opportunities of investing in fragile contexts through the experience of AECF’s REACT programme in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Somalia. This five year $70m programme invested in 91 companies using a range of financing instruments and supported by advisory and advocacy services to reduce poverty through a transformational increase in the use of renewable energy by off-grid households. The event will include a presentation by AECF of the programme and its key experiences, a panel discussion with diverse stakeholders, and a Q&A session to engage the audience in meaningful dialogue.