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Lighting the Way: How the PAYGo Solar Industry is Expanding to Other Life-Changing Products
Millions of customers in Africa are using lighting generated by PAYGo solar – but lights are just one of many products the PAYGo business model can provide – something the companies working in the sector are beginning to realize. Chris Emmott at Fenix International discusses the vast array of products and services enabled by the new connections PAYGo solar companies are making to rural customers.
- Categories
- Energy
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Is Vertical Integration Good or Bad for Off-Grid Energy Access? Let’s Get Specific
Pay-as-you-go off-grid energy business models are often vertically integrated, including elements of manufacturing, distribution, consumer financing, payment collection and after-sales service. But some believe it's more cost-effective to outsource many of these aspects of the business model to service providers. Paul Clyde and Colm Fay at WDI argue that vertical integration is neither inherently good, nor bad: They explore its history, and its advantages and disadvantages for the nascent off-grid energy industry.
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- Energy
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‘Are We There Yet?’: How to Deal with Delays – And Other Challenges – In Acquiring Financial Transaction Data
“Are we there yet?” It’s a familiar refrain to any parent who has taken a child on a long journey – and it's also a common dilemma for programs that promote data-driven decision-making in financial inclusion. As Karen Kühlcke at insight2impact explains, requests for financial transaction data from external organizations can involve delays of several months, even as the partner confidently claims that “the data is arriving soon.” She explores how to manage this challenge to gain faster data access.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Tags
- data, financial inclusion
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Digital Platforms for ‘Gig Economy’ Workers: An Intriguing Model Gains Traction in Africa
The government of Senegal has been working diligently to foster high-tech innovation in its economy – but there's one area in particular need of a digital upgrade. Researchers Jessica Wallach and Jill Lagos Shemin explore why the greatest potential impact of the digital revolution in Senegal may involve helping informal workers in the "gig economy" leverage digital platforms to find work.
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- Technology
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Shedding Light on Women in Solar: How – And Why – Off-Grid Solar Companies Should Hire More Female Sales Agents
Off-grid solar companies need large sales forces to reach last-mile consumers. But though they often struggle to build these sales forces, and though there's a large pool of female candidates to choose from, only 35% of their salespeople are women. Scott A. Roy at Whitten & Roy Partnership discusses the false assumptions that keep solar companies from hiring women, and explores the reasons why female sales agents are actually better all-around performers than men.
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- Energy
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Navigating Risks as Private Equity Moves into Impact Investing: Examples from Kenya
It's no surprise that impact investing has been adopted by development-focused organizations – but it has increasingly also attracted the attention of more profit-driven institutions, including some leading private equity firms. While this represents a milestone in the sector's march toward the mainstream, Julio De Souza and Gianluca Storchi at StratLink Advisory Group discuss some persistent concerns – illustrated with examples from their home base in Kenya.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Can an Integrated Energy Distribution Model Turn Around Africa’s Ailing Utilities?
Utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to provide quality, cost-effective services at a profit. The reasons for this include their inability to access affordable capital, and their low revenue collection rates. According to Simon Meier at Konexa, this is one reason that electricity access in the region continues to lag behind other geographies. He explores an innovative solution Konexa is piloting: an integrated distribution model that could provide a recipe for systems change.
- Categories
- Energy
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Nobody Reads Privacy Policies: Why We Need to Go Beyond Consent to Ensure Data Privacy
We all “say” we read the privacy policies when we agree to the terms and conditions on websites and apps - but up to 97% of people don't actually read them. And even if we read them, few of us can understand the legalese. Now that the age of Big Data has reached emerging markets, and digital tech makes obtaining and monetizing user data easier than ever before, this lack of data privacy is a growing concern. David Medine and Gayatri Murthy at CGAP explore the problem – and some innovative tools that can help protect the world’s newest and most vulnerable digital consumers.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology