Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) Mid-Term Review

Hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a multi-donor fund, supports projects across three strategic priorities, namely: (1) Green baseloads; (2) green mini grids; and (3) energy efficiency. SEFA is also a key vehicle for the operationalization of AfDB initiatives such as Desert-to-Power and the Africa Energy Sector Technical Assistance Programme. Econoler was mandated to complete the mid-term review of SEFA 2.0 and advise on its scale up for SEFA 3.0, the next phase of the fund. Throughout the assignment, the consultant team conducted secondary and primary data analyses, portfolio analyses, and project sample assessments as well as met over 40 stakeholders through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Referring to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria, the team assessed the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the fund. The aim of the review was to support the SEFA team in addressing SEFA shortcomings and improving performance for the ensuing five years by providing recommendations on how to improve SEFA 2.0. 

Under this mandate, Econoler carried out the following tasks:

• Developed an evaluation framework, methodology, and tools, including the reconstruction of the SEFA theory of change, elaborated a benchmarking methodology, a project case study methodology, as well as data-collection and management tools (including in Dedoose);

• Conducted quantitative and qualitative data collection through internal SEFA and external interviews (project beneficiaries, international SEFA donors, other funds active in the African sustainability space), desk literature reviews, reviews of past SEFA-related evaluation results, and focus groups with internal stakeholders; 

• Performed field missions for the development of the review (Abidjan) and for the presentation of emerging findings to fund donors (in London);

• Analyzed data to review the reconstructed theory of change and to establish evidence covering all the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria;

• Developed emerging findings, conclusions, and recommendations for the SEFA team and stakeholders, including donors;

• Held a final presentation to discuss the final report with the SEFA team and selected stakeholders, including donors. 

This mid-term review served to identify emerging trends on the African energy market to inform the upcoming SEFA 3.0 strategy. Moreover, mid-term review results informed the second half of the mandate of SEFA 2.0 with reflected and discussed improvement options, thus supporting the future development of SEFA 3.0 with recommendations focused on scaling up this successful fund.