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Making Mini-Grids Work for Everyone: A Tariff Harmonization Pilot in Sierra Leone Reveals the Benefits and Challenges of Lowering Prices
Solar mini-grids offer a promising solution to energy poverty in Africa. But according to Tombo Banda and Lisa Kahuthu at CrossBoundary and Miriam Atuya, this approach has yet to gain sufficient traction, due in part to the challenge of balancing operational sustainability with affordability. If customer tariffs are set too low, operators lack revenue — but if prices are set too high, mini-grid electricity isn’t accessible enough to drive widespread adoption. They share the results of a pilot program in Sierra Leone that tested the impact of lower prices on mini-grid operators and their customers, highlighting the implications for future efforts to implement tariff reduction at scale.
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Subsidy and Synergy: How Philanthropy Can Complement Impact Investing More Effectively
The original goal of impact investing was to build out the funding spectrum between philanthropy and commercial investment. But according to Asad Mahmood at SIMA and Nanno Kleiterp, the arrival of private equity firms — promising scale and market-rate financial returns — has pulled all the sector's energy toward the commercial end of the spectrum. They explore the key role philanthropic subsidy has played in the development of emerging markets business, clarify some misconceptions about its role in impact investing, and propose some ways philanthropists and impact investors can better align their efforts.
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- Energy, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
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An Emerging Priority in Climate Resilience: How Zambia’s Green Growth Strategy — And its Business Sector — Are Addressing the Risk of Climate-Induced Social Instability
Zambia — like other countries across Southern Africa — is confronting its worst drought in four decades, one of multiple climate-related crises it faces. According to Gracsious Maviza and Giulia Caroli at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and Ibukun Taiwo at CGIAR, these issues are putting a growing strain on the nation’s social fabric. They explore how Zambia's National Green Growth Strategy is addressing these challenges, highlighting four "Climate Security Pathways" in the strategy that can improve social stability — and generate immense opportunities for the private sector.
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- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, WASH
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An Under-Recognized Obstacle to Solar Access in Africa: The Impact of Foreign Exchange Risk — And How to Mitigate It
Solar energy businesses are rapidly gaining traction in Africa, driving economic growth, improving living standards and supporting the transition to a low-carbon future. But Yariv Cohen at Ignite Power highlights an under-recognized barrier facing the sector: foreign exchange risks. He explores the impacts that volatile exchange rates can have on two common types of solar projects in Africa, and shares some of the strategies that have emerged to mitigate these risks.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Funding the Fight Against the World’s Oldest Fuel Source: How New Financing Mechanisms in Clean Cooking Can Succeed Where Grants Have Failed
The use of biomass fuel for cooking has remained consistent over the centuries, despite the development sector's efforts to scale global access to clean cookstoves. As Paul Ronalds at Save the Children Global Ventures argues, a key reason for this failure is the estimated $5.5 billion annual funding gap facing clean cooking initiatives — a gap that traditional sources of finance, like private donations and government grants, have been unable to fill. He discusses several funding solutions, including carbon credits, that could help the clean cooking sector finally end the era of biomass fuel.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Replacing Old Technologies or Creating New Markets?: The Pros and Cons of Two Paths to Impact for Productive Use of Energy
Productive use of energy (PUE) technologies have the potential to unlock higher incomes and reduce reliance on more costly, non-renewable energy sources in rural and low-income communities. Dan Waldron, Chris Emmott, Yash Vardhan Gaddhyan and Ruth Wairimu at Acumen discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two different paths to impact for PUE: replacing inefficient, fossil fuel-based incumbent technologies, vs. disrupting entire markets with innovative PUE approaches.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology, Transportation
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Blockchain vs. Greenwashing: Why Emissions Reporting is Pointless Without Verifiable Data
The current carbon emissions reporting landscape is awash in bold, often dubious claims about the supposed climate impact of different businesses. According to Nish Kotecha at Finboot, these claims are a result of the growing pressure on companies to provide more environmental accountability, and they often reduce emissions reporting to an exercise in greenwashing. He explores how Finboot is leveraging blockchain to verify the accuracy and reliability of emissions data, and discusses some key obstacles to the wider adoption of blockchain-based emissions reporting.
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- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Why Private Businesses — Not Non-Profits and NGOs — Present the Only Scalable Solution for Last-Mile Electrification in Africa
In the pursuit of last-mile electrification in Africa, both businesses and NGOs/non-profits are pursuing different pathways to scale. In a recent NextBillion article, Aneri Pradhan at New Energy Nexus argued that market-led approaches are ill-suited for remote communities, and that philanthropy should focus more on scalable non-profit models. But according to Yariv Cohen at Ignite Power, when it comes to serving these communities at scale, businesses offer advantages that non-profits and NGOs cannot match. He explores why the private sector’s role is critical for addressing energy poverty across Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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