About us

ABOUT US

The Seed Capital Assistance Facility (SCAF) is designed to help renewable energy equity investment entity managers and development companies mitigate the risks associated with early-stage project development, accelerate and scale up deployment, and increase early-stage private sector investment and the number of renewable energy actors.

SCAF’s operations expand over two phases and are scheduled to end in December 2026. Phase I was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Foundation, the UN Environment Fund, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Phase II was funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID, today FCDO) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU, today the Ministry for Economy and Climate Action BMWK). SCAF is scheduled to operate until December 2026.

2008
Inception of SCAF I
USD 10.47 million
2014
Inception of SCAF II
GBP 9 million + EUR 3 million
2019
Additional funding
GBP 2.1 million + 3.1 million
2020
Inception of RSCF
2021
Additional funding EUR
10 million
2026
End of activities
under SCAF II
2008
Inception of SCAF I
USD 10.47 million
2014
Inception of SCAF II
GBP 9 million + EUR 3 million
2019
Additional funding
GBP 2.1 million + 3.1 million
2020
Inception of RSCF
2021
Additional funding EUR
10 million
2026
End of activities
under SCAF II

REPLICATION IN OTHER SECTORS - RSCF

Following the achievements of SCAF phases I and II, the Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF), an independent sister facility to SCAF, was launched in 2020. RSCF supports early stage development of forest and landscape restoration projects in developing countries, contributing to climate adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity, and sustainable livelihoods. The RSCF is following the same operational guidelines that has made SCAF a success. The inception of RSCF demonstrates the replicability of SCAF within other sectors and the attractiveness of the facility to donors as well as the private sector.

OUR MISSION

Bridge the early-stage financing gap for clean energy projects in frontier markets

Our approach

While many facilities and institutions target individual project‑level support, SCAF is unique in that it focuses on supporting investment entity managers and development companies at the company and pipeline level. This eventually supports the development of local ecosystems of expertise with the potential to deploy energy and climate solutions at scale.

A FACILITY OF

MORE INFORMATION

MANAGED BY

MORE INFORMATION

TRUSTEE

MORE INFORMATION

SCAF I DONORS

SCAF II DONORS

MORE INFORMATION

OUR TEAM

FANTINE DUTRONC
SCAF AGENT
INDILENI NAMBALA
SCAF AGENT
BAPTISTE GAYDON

ASSOCIATE PROGRAMME
MANAGEMENT OFFICER - UNEP

DEREK CAMPBELL
SCAF MANAGEMENT
MARTIN CREMER
SCAF MANAGEMENT
RAKESH SHEJWAL

FINANCE UNIT OF ENERGY AND CLIMATE
BRANCH, ECONOMY DIVISION - UNEP

CONTACT US

EMAIL
Phase II funded by
Fantine Dutronc
SCAF AGENT

Fantine is working on the Seed Capital Assistance Facility as Junior Investment Manager. Before joining FS Impact Finance, Fantine was a student at EDHEC Business School, where she specialized in sustainable finance and climate change in a Master of Science in partnership between EDHEC and Les Mines Paris.

She has a year of experience in listed financial markets through internships at Mirova as an ESG analyst and at CDC Croissance as a financial analyst.

Indileni Nambala
SCAF AGENT

Indileni has over 12 years’ working experience in South Africa and Namibia, most recently with Deloitte focused on tax planning, various tax consulting engagements on inbound investments for international clients. He also has transactional experience as part of mergers and acquisition transaction teams and due diligence reviews.

Indileni completed his MBA at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He also has a degree in Cost and Management Accounting and a degree in Taxation from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He is also a Certified Expert in Sustainable Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Mangement. Indileni has a keen interest in emerging markets and seeing them realise their potential. In his spare time, Indileni enjoys reading, running and visiting galleries and art museums.

Baptiste Gaydon
ASSOCIATE PROGRAMME
MANAGEMENT OFFICER - UNEP

Baptiste Gaydon is an Associate Programme Management Officer in the Finance Unit, Climate and Energy Branch of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He currently supports the implementation of de-risking financing mechanisms in the renewable energy sector in developing countries, including the Seed Capital Assistance Facility (SCAF).

Prior to joining UNEP’s Finance Unit, Baptiste worked for several years at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for its Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme and Project Preparation Facility (PPF). His focus was on supporting public and private project developers from developing countries build up their institutional capacities and develop a pipeline of climate projects at scale through both technical and financial resources.

Baptiste holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Sciences-Po (Toulouse) and a Master’s degree in Environmental Law from Aix-Marseille University.

Derek Campbell
SCAF MANAGEMENT

Derek’s background is in the renewable energy sector, where he has worked for several years on the advisory side working with public and private actors. His professional experience has focused on emerging economies, in particular the African continent.

Derek has a Bachelor of Commerce from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and a Master of Science from Halmstad University.

Martin Cremer
SCAF MANAGEMENT

Martin has been working at the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance since 2011, implementing a variety of climate related donor projects aimed at leveraging private capital into frontier markets, in particular the Seed Capital Assistance Facility.

Martin has a strong banking background, combining structuring expertise of complex private equity debt transactions with international negotiation skills, having previously gathered expertise for over 14 years with various financial institutions, including Unicredit Corporates & Markets in Germany and France, as well as BNP Paribas.

Martin has a Bachelor in Business Economics from the University of Augsburg and a Master of Business Administration from ESCP Europe Business School.

Rakesh Shejwal
FINANCE UNIT OF ENERGY AND CLIMATE
BRANCH, ECONOMY DIVISION - UNEP

Rakesh is part of the Finance Unit of Energy and Climate Branch, Economy Division at UNEP. His responsibilities include management, and monitoring of Seed Capital Assistance Facility. He is also involved in investigating, initiating, and developing new projects that build UNEP engagement in the climate finance area.

Ex-Member of the Climate Finance and Sustainability strategy team of YES Bank, India, he has worked on mainstreaming natural capital in India, co-developed and executed the 3-year Climate Strategy of the Bank, Triple Bottom Line Reporting, key CSR projects on biodiversity conservation, community engagement and stakeholder management.