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Mini-grids May Not Be the Answer: Why Shifts in Technology and Funding Have Changed the Energy Access Outlook in Africa
There is intense pressure to reach universal energy access by 2030, which requires a further 666 million people to be electrified, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. And according to Stewart Hicks at Bamboo Capital Partners, mini-grids are often viewed as a key part of the solution, leading to growing calls for more private sector investment in this technology. But he argues that this focus on mini-grids may be distracting from faster, more cost-effective approaches. He explains why mini-grids — despite being a good solution in some areas — have several under-reported constraints, and explores some emerging alternative electrification models that may present a more realistic path toward greater energy access in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Beanstalk AgTech Announces the Launch of Monsoon Ventures to Accelerate Agtech Commercialisation in Southeast Asia
The studio will invest capital, recruit complementary commercial expertise, map value chain pathways, and help ventures attract the right investors or strategic partnerships with regional players.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Ghana Launches National Union for Informal Waste Workers
According to GAYO, the union will provide a unified platform for informal waste workers to engage government, municipalities, industries and development partners.
- Categories
- Environment, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Wind and Solar Projects in Kenya and South Africa Don’t Always Benefit the Communities That Host Them – Study
If green energy investments are to deliver on their promise of development, governments and investors need to start by asking communities what they consider a fair deal. Land, livelihoods, culture and ways of life may be just as important as financial returns.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African Development Fund Grants $4.3 Million to Strengthen Integration of Natural Capital Into Decision-Making in 13 African Countries
The strategy aims to strengthen policy-making systems, statistical systems, institutional frameworks, and knowledge-generation mechanisms needed by the regional member countries participating in the project and the African Development Bank Group to assess natural capital and incorporate it into public policy-making.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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KCB Bank Kenya and European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) Sign US$100 Million Facility to Expand SME Financing
Under the framework, 35 per cent of the facility will be directed towards women and youth-led enterprises, while 30 per cent will finance eligible green investments, enabling businesses to adopt climate-smart technologies and sustainable business practices.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Go Green Backs BioLite’s Clean Cooking Rollout in Zambia Under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement
The carbon credits generated by the project will be sold to Switzerland’s KliK Foundation under a Mitigation Outcomes Purchase Agreement (MOPA) entered into between BioLite and the KliK Foundation.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Rize Secures $31 Million Series B to Expand Low-Emission Rice Network in Vietnam and Indonesia
Rize works with farmers to adopt Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), an irrigation technique endorsed by the International Rice Research Institute and CGIAR that periodically drains paddies rather than keeping them permanently flooded.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
- Region
- South Asia
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