COSEF

COSEF invests at the climate-gender nexus in high-growth and high-impact sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, renewable energy, education, tourism and hospitality, health, and retail, leveraging the support of business development organizations as catalytic funders and technical assistance partners to accelerate SDG achievement in Africa.

There is a $42 billion funding deficit for female entrepreneurs in Africa. These entrepreneurs are unable to obtain loans from commercial banks because they do not have appropriate collateral and are consequently deemed hazardous. Also, climate change is here, and business as usual is failing to handle it, resulting in a $2.5 trillion financial shortfall.

Green and women-owned or led enterprises are unable to secure finance from traditional commercial lenders because they are deemed risky.

Technical help is also essential for these businesses to grow and scale, and if it is to serve a large number of entrepreneurs, a cost-effective delivery approach should be used.

This necessitates not only flexible financing for green and women-owned or led businesses but also an innovative collaboration to: (i) derisk investments for private investors, thereby unlocking more funding and contributing to closing the $2.5 trillion and $42 billion financing gaps for climate and women, respectively; and (ii) cost-effectively grow businesses to accelerate SDG achievement.

COSEF invests through climate and gender-linked mezzanine and flexible debt structures to incentivize investees to achieve pre-agreed climate and gender-related targets, such as (i) the number of women using sustainable energy and/or mobility solutions; (ii) the number of women benefiting from climate-smart and resilient products and technologies; (iii) the number of women in formal and indirect employment; and (iv) milestones in addressing gender issues and human rights impacts.