Sustainable Natural Resources Tender

SECO finances the Technical Assistance Facility of SUNREF 2 Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Financing Program phase 2. The Agence Franaise de Dveloppement AFD supports with a green credit line a few South African banks to provide loans to SMEs for projects in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy.BackgroundSouth Africa has witnessed during the past decade an ongoing energy crisis. Power shutdowns affect productivity of the industry weaken the currency slow economic growth and put jobs at risk. In 2012 AFD has established a green credit line to support South Africas transistion to a low carbon economy. SUNREF 2 is the second phase of the program and SECO provides the funds for the Technical Assistance Facility TAF in order to support the banks as well as project developpers to generate successful projects.ObjectivesThe overall goal of the program is to reduce the carbon footprint of the South African economy by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. The impacts will be measured by the CO2 reduction per year energy savings renewable energy capacity installed and the number of small and medium-sized enterprises supported.