GROW project aims to enhance commercial lending to businesses investing in Renewable Energy/Solar and Energy Efficiency by providing direct technical assistance to businesses, and partial credit guarantees to commercial banks through Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund. GROW is part of the Renewable Energy IPP Facilitation Project (RE IPP). The overall goal of the RE IPP is to finance technologies that decrease Kosovo’s reliance on fossil fuels and reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. To accomplish this goal, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) through Millennium Foundation Kosovo (MFK) supported the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF) to serve as an implementing entity that will provide partial guarantees for loans that: (i) support investments to develop independent power producer (IPP) projects; (ii) finance auto-producer (A-P) installations that will generate renewable energy for self-consumption and net-metering purposes; and (iii) increase energy efficiency improvements at the individual firm and household levels.

The goal of GROW is to

• Provide technical assistance to support small- and medium-sized enterprises, including independent power producers (IPPs) and other eligible entities, to utilize standardized documentation for lenders and obtain financing;
• Evaluate RE and EE investments from technical and financial perspectives, including coordination with KCGF partner banks;
• Develop a renewable energy (RE)/energy efficiency (EE) project pipeline for KCGF’s new guaranty window

Millennium Foundation Kosovo (MFK)

Millennium Foundation Kosovo is the implementing entity of the Threshold Program, a $49 million agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and Millennium Challenge Corporation. Kosovo Threshold Program addresses two key constraints to Kosovo’s economic growth: an unreliable supply of; and real and perceived weakness in rule of law, government accountability and transparency.

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

Millennium Challenge Corporation is an innovative, independent U.S. foreign assistance agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty. MCC provides time-limited grants promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and strengthening institutions.

Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF)

Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund is an independent, development orientated legal entity that provides credit guarantees for MSMEs, by sharing the credit risk with financial institutions. By guaranteeing the credit portfolios of financial institutions, KCGF aims to enhance access to finance for MSMEs, support entrepreneurship development, support domestic production and services that create an added value, create new jobs and support overall economic development.