Ascent PPF: $25M World Bank Facility Opens for East African Clean Energy Projects

A $25 million financing facility — the Ascent Project Preparation Facility (PPF) — has opened applications for companies in the clean cooking and energy access sector across 16 East and Southern African countries. The facility is funded by the World Bank and Comesa (a Lusaka-based multilateral finance vehicle), and managed by London-based Cygnum Capital.

Who Can Apply

Eligible countries include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the DRC, Burundi, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan, and Zambia. Applicants must be registered in one of these countries, have operated for at least three years, and have paying customers and a minimum annual revenue of $250,000 (solar home systems) or $150,000 (clean cooking, minigrids, productive use energy).

The facility offers milestone-based grants of $50,000–$200,000 for project preparation and business development — the stage of the pipeline that is most underfunded in East Africa's clean energy sector.

Why This Matters for Carbon Markets

Cookstove and clean energy projects in East Africa are among the most active generators of voluntary carbon credits globally. Kenya hosts projects like Burn Manufacturing's VCS5642 (52,405 tCO2e vintage 2025 issued in July 2026), and Uganda-based UpEnergy recently secured a 3.8 million tCO2e Letter of Authorisation from Nigeria under Article 6. However, the project development phase — from concept to registration — remains a capital bottleneck. The Ascent PPF directly addresses this gap.

For developers who can meet Ascent's eligibility criteria, the combination of grant-based project preparation support and Kenya's growing carbon market infrastructure makes 2026 a strong moment to advance pipeline projects.

Timeline

Applications opened in July 2026. The first submission window closes August 31, 2026. Interested developers should begin preparing applications now.

Related: REDD+ Across Borders: Kenya, Uganda and the Congo Basin