Leadership Workshop Series
Developing Bankable Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Projects
What bankable really means, and a three-pillar framework for de-risking a project before you borrow
Taught by Femi Awofala, Founder and Chief Executive
Watch a 99-second preview
Why a feasible LPG plant can still fail the lender's test
Learn what lenders mean when they call a project bankable, and how to de-risk cash flow, construction and governance before you ever approach a bank.
About this course
Energy developers across Africa are told repeatedly that their project is not bankable, without ever being told what the word means. This course takes that word apart. Bankable means lendable, and the person who decides is the lender who accepts the project's risks, not the consultant who writes the report. The speaker sets out the three pillars he built to test any large energy or infrastructure project: predictable cash flow, fixed construction delivery with optimal operations, and independent governance with sustainability.
The teaching is worked through real project types. A gas-to-liquids plant where community risk has to be closed out by contract rather than merely noted in a study. An LPG plant whose economics look strong today but may not survive the three to four years it takes to plan, finance and build. The arrival of GSM in Nigeria, financed without any offtake agreement on the strength of independent market work. The framework is then applied separately to non-renewable projects in oil, gas and coal, and to renewables, where mini grid tariffs and multi-supplier construction create their own problems.
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The closing section is the workshop's question and answer, which is substantial enough to stand as its own module. It covers where insurance, hedging and political risk guarantees fit, how to make rural mini grid economics work, and how to control delays and cost overruns through end-to-end EPC contracts, liquidated damages, performance guarantees and fixed pricing.
It is written for developers and professionals who are packaging projects themselves and want to reach a lender with something that will survive scrutiny.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what a lender means by bankability and why it is decided after the feasibility study, not by it
- Apply the three-pillar bankability framework to your own project
- Structure predictable cash flow through offtake agreements or independent market evidence
- Identify the construction, supply and operations risks lenders expect you to close out before they lend
- Set up governance arrangements that let the project company operate independently of its founder
- Adapt the framework to the different realities of non-renewable projects, mini grids and commercial and industrial renewables
Who this course is for
- Energy project developers and promoters raising early-stage funding
- Engineers and technical staff moving into project development roles
- Lawyers, consultants and financial advisers supporting energy projects
- Entrepreneurs entering the LPG, gas, mini grid or C&I solar space
- EPC contractors who want to understand what lenders expect of them
Curriculum
Course structure
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3 lessons
Module 1
What bankability actually means
Where early-stage money sits, what investors call traction, and why bankability is settled by a lender rather than by a feasibility study.
- The early-stage funding gap and what investors call traction Free preview 4 minutes
- Bankable means lendable 5 minutes
- How a lender reads risk, and why promoters need the mindset 6 minutes
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2 lessons
Module 2
The three-pillar bankability framework
The framework the speaker built so developers can test their own projects, and the contracts and policies that carry each of its three pillars.
- The three pillars 7 minutes
- Turning the pillars into contracts 6 minutes
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2 lessons
Module 3
Applying the framework across the sectors
How the three pillars play out in oil, gas and coal, and in renewables such as mini grids and commercial and industrial supply.
- Non-renewable projects, and the solar home systems exception 4 minutes
- Renewables: mini grids, C&I and multi-contractor delivery 3 minutes
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3 lessons
Module 4
Questions from the room
The workshop's question and answer: where risk transfer instruments fit, the economics of rural mini grids, and how to control delays and cost overruns in construction.
- Where insurance, hedging and guarantees fit 4 minutes
- Mini grid economics, and why collaboration matters 5 minutes
- Controlling delays and cost overruns in EPC contracts 4 minutes