News, Interviews

Finnfund on building a bankable pipeline for Africa’s clean energy transition

18th June, 2026

Finnfund, the Finnish development financier and impact investor, has joined the Nordic-Africa Clean Energy & Mobility Cluster, a platform bringing together companies, financiers and public-sector actors from the Nordics and Africa to accelerate clean energy and mobility. ENN spoke with Jussi Tourunen, Head of Energy and Infrastructure portfolio at Finnfund, about why the organisation joined, what it wants from the next twelve months, and what it will take to move more African energy projects to financial close.

Why did Finnfund decide to join the Nordic-Africa Clean Energy & Mobility Cluster?

The Nordic–Africa Clean Energy & Mobility Cluster is a collaborative platform that brings together companies, financiers, and public-sector actors from the Nordics and Africa to accelerate clean energy and mobility solutions.

Finnfund was not involved in establishing the cluster, but we joined early on because it addresses a very real gap we see as an investor: strong interest and promising opportunities exist, but too few projects reach the scale and structure required for investment.

For us, the value of the cluster lies in its ability to:

Bring together complementary partners across the value chain
Strengthen the pipeline of bankable, investment-ready projects
Create a more coordinated approach to opportunities that often remain fragmented

At the same time, we contribute our experience as a development financier — including structuring investments in challenging markets, working with local partners, and supporting scalable infrastructure projects. The cluster is therefore a two-way platform: we both bring capital and expertise, and benefit from stronger collaboration and deal flow.

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