Blended finance: The Regional Education Finance Fund for Africa
Authors: Hana Sugiyama and Georgia Thorne
Initiated in 2012 by the German Development Bank (KFW), with funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Regional Education Finance Fund for Africa (REFFA) is the first fund to exclusively support the education sector in Africa to improve access and quality of education in the region (REFFA, 2020). It does so by providing debt investments and technical assistance to local financial intermediaries (investees) who, in turn, offer loans or education savings products to education providers, students and their families. REFFA is funded through a blended financing mechanism composed of funding from Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and private investors (REFFA, n.d.-a).