WEBINAR SERIES: Reaching Scale in Access to Energy
5.30pm Mumbai | 3pm Nairobi | 2pm Paris | 8am Washington D.C.
Overcoming challenges for solar success beyond peri-urban areas of East Africa and India
While energy access has increased as a proportion of the population, in absolute numbers there are still almost as many households without access as there were 8 years ago. More than one billion people still do not have access to electricity, most of them living in remote rural areas. With the tremendous momentum observed in the energy access space over the recent years, why have solar energy companies only been able to serve a fraction of the off-grid population?
In this two-part webinar series, Hystra, in partnership with the Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business and the Inclusive Business Action Network, draws on learnings from over 26 pioneering practitioners to explore how to overcome the two critical challenges to the replication of off-grid solar energy companies: distributing in frontier markets, and scaling up financing.
20th September 5.30pm Mumbai | 3pm Nairobi | 2pm Paris | 8am Washington D.C.
This webinar will explore solutions for distributors of solar lanterns and home systems to scale up beyond the peri-urban markets of East Africa and India. With inputs from solar company Lumos and experience from USAID, Hystra will share lessons drawn from the observation of pioneering models. These will range from rural areas, where margins on entry-level products are too low to pay for sales agents, and where consumer reassurance and quality of service are critical, to emerging markets with less favorable regulatory environments (e.g. lower solar awareness, higher landed costs, absence of mobile money, lower income levels), where alternative distribution models are needed.
About the Panelists
François Lepicard, Network Partner at Hystra, will introduce the discussions with insights drawn from Hystra’s latest report on access to energy.
Ron Margalit, Principal, Blended and Impact Investments, will share his experience of the Nigerian market.
Maurice Kent, from the USAID Global Development Lab, will talk about the support USAID is bringing to companies entering new geographies.
Markus Dietrich, from the Inclusive Business Action Network, will facilitate the webinar.
Webinar 2: Scaling up financing
Innovative structured financing for solar companies
27th September 5.30pm Mumbai | 3pm Nairobi | 2pm Paris | 8am Washington D.C.
Solar companies cite financing as the primary bottleneck of their growth. While the equity space is crowded, the need for working capital debt will likely keep growing with the entry of new players, the acceleration of leaders, and replication to new countries. With under-developed local capital markets, solar companies struggle to cover currency and duration risk. The securitization of future payment streams is being increasingly considered, with little experimentation. Given the size of solar companies, a multi-issuer, subprime-type vehicle could be a solution. In this webinar, Hystra will share findings on innovative structured financing in this space and guest panelists will share their experiences of finance models on the ground.
About the Panelists
François Lepicard, Network Partner at Hystra, will introduce the discussions with insights drawn from Hystra’s latest report on access to energy.
Piyush Mathur, CEO of Simpa Networks, will share his experience about securitization and Pay-As-You-Go.
Molly Doyle, from USAID Scaling Off-Grid Energy, will provide insights on USAID’s efforts to encourage local financing.
Markus Dietrich, from the Inclusive Business Action Network, will facilitate the webinar.
Location: Virtual
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2017
