SURE Gender Smart Energy Investments

Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to increase access to finance for women-owned and women-led companies in the energy sector. The program supports financial institutions and investors to incorporate a gender and inclusion approach into their investment processes, focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. SURE works with development finance institutions, private investors, funds, and other financial intermediaries to strengthen gender equality practices in human resources and business processes. The program engages financial actors on the economic and social benefits of applying a gender lens to their energy investment portfolios, promoting the inclusion of women-owned enterprises, increasing gender diversity in financial institutions' investment committees, and enhancing gender diversity in the workforce and contractors who participate in infrastructure projects. In Colombia, SURE assisted the Fund for Non-Conventional Energy and Energy Efficiency (FENOGE) to develop a methodology for incorporating gender equality into its investment process. The program helped FENOGE establish a Gender and Diversity Policy, which promotes female participation in the energy sector, prioritizes reducing female energy poverty, and advances policies and mechanisms that address gender-based violence. SURE also trained 40 technical staff on the business case for gender equality and on using the methodology in energy projects. Strategically integrating inclusive and gender lens approaches to the full investment cycle, fund allocations, and financial actors' business operations and processes increases productivity and profitability, improves economic stability and resilience, and enhances economic welfare and growth. Studies have demonstrated that companies with good gender performance have higher market valuations, and venture and private equity funds with gender-balanced investment teams have 20 percent higher returns than their peers. SURE collaborates with Exagon Impact Capital, a private equity investor in Latin America, and supports Acre Impact Capital, a climate-aligned impact investing fund in Africa, to better integrate gender considerations at the organizational and investment levels. The program provides training to equip the funds' investment committee with the knowledge and tools to make more inclusive, innovative, and potentially profitable investment decisions, while also aligning with gender-equality goals and regulations. As a result of SURE's technical assistance, investment funds have secured over $120 million to be invested using a gender lens. The program has trained 13 fund managers and investment leaders in gender lens investing and survivor-centered approaches, promoting the inclusion of women-owned and women-led companies in the energy sector.