The Regional Infrastructure Finance Facility Project for Eastern and Southern Africa (RIFF) is supporting economic transformation and regional integration through the expansion of finance to private sector infrastructure projects that keep the region moving.
A recent RIFF Forum held in Kenya gathered leaders from 50 financial institutions across 11 countries in Africa to share information on the facility and develop partnerships. In this video, we hear from leaders in Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
RIFF is helping the region scale sustainable infrastructure and turn cooperation into concrete economic opportunities and jobs — bridging financing gaps, accelerating the green transition, and empowering the next generation of African enterprises and innovators.
Achievements to date:
- over 17,000 jobs have been created, and over $5 million in government revenues.
- 3.02 million people gained new or improved electricity service — 52% women, or 1.56 million 260,912 households connected via off-grid solutions; 16% female-headed households
- 62.8% of households report that improved lighting helps children study; average study time increased by 1.66 hours/day
- 88.3% of respondents note reduced workload for women, less time spent fetching fuel or cooking with kerosene/wood
- 2.2 million kerosene lanterns replaced
- 510,787 tons of CO₂ emissions avoided over the lifetime of solar products
- Only 7.3% of households still use kerosene; 71.5% report improved indoor air quality
RIFF is a flagship World Bank Group IDA–financed Investment Project Financing (IPF) operation, implemented by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) in partnership with the COMESA Secretariat, the Facility total value of $425 million covers TDB and COMESA Member countries.