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Empowering the Underserved: A New Report Highlights the Impact of Off-Grid Energy Solutions — And Some Emerging Challenges
Up to 674 million people living in the world's most vulnerable communities are projected to remain unelectrified by 2030. According to Kat Harrison at 60 Decibels, the off-grid sector could reach these customers, if these energy businesses and organizations are given the right support to successfully scale. She shares insights from a new 60 Decibels report, based on interviews with 79,000 energy customers in over 30 different countries over the last three years, which highlight some adjustments the sector could make to reach hundreds of millions of excluded customers.
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Scaling Impact in the Last Mile Distribution Sector: The Pros and Cons of Different Pathways to Scale
The last mile distribution sector has gained significant momentum. But as Russell Lyseight at the Global Distributors Collective and Emma Colenbrander at Spring Impact point out, there is still a huge discrepancy between the size of the problem (i.e., last mile consumers’ lack of access to beneficial products and services) and the distribution solutions that currently exist. They explore several approaches last mile distributors can use to close this gap.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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Comparing Business Models for Scaling Access to Productive Use of Energy Appliances in Agriculture: The Advantages of Pay-Per-Use
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) appliances — including solar refrigerators, water pumps and more — can boost productivity, income and quality of life in vulnerable communities. But as Ankur Singh, Argha Ghose and Clementine Chambon at Oorja explain, challenges like high upfront costs, lack of financing and poor after-sales service hinder their adoption among these consumers. They explore several business and end-user financing models that can support PUE uptake in agriculture, and explain why the pay-per-use model is uniquely suitable for low-income consumers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Technology
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Under-Leveraged Best Practices for Scaling Productive Use of Energy Appliances: Part 1 — Sales Support and Market Access
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) appliances can increase revenue for low-income populations, mitigate climate change and improve global energy access. But according to Thomas Charoy and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath at Hystra, uptake of PUE appliances remains slow, due in part to the training, market linkages and after-sales support needed for customers to get the full benefit from these complex products. They explore some common challenges and best practices in selling PUE solutions, focusing on the appliances with the most mature and promising markets: solar water pumps and solar refrigerators.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Technology
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Women Sales Agents are the Key to Last-Mile Distribution: Here are Four Ways to Maximize Their Impact
Many development and entrepreneurship programs around the world have engaged women sales agents as last-mile distributors, as their involvement can advance multiple business and impact goals. But as Shihab Uzzaman and Trisha Clauson at Bopinc point out, though some of these initiatives have succeeded, many have failed. They share four key practices Bopinc leveraged in a last-mile distribution project in Bangladesh that can boost the performance of other businesses and programs that enlist women sales agents in their distribution efforts.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Mobilizing Capital in the Low-Cost Private School Sector: Key Insights Two Years into an Innovative Partnership
One in five children in sub-Saharan Africa are out of school, and without scalable solutions, the region — like other emerging markets — won’t meet SDG 4’s goal of education for all. Mauricio Rincon and Mathieu Fourn at Opportunity International, and Alvaro Ma at Oikocredit argue that affordable non-state schools can help address this need — but only if they're supported by financial institutions and impact investment. They share learnings from a partnership between Opportunity and Oikocredit that is directing millions of dollars in capital to these schools, along with capacity building and other support.
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Analysis: Drones, Droids, and Delivery Bots: The Future of Last-Mile Logistics
Emerging technologies in automated delivery are poised to drastically reduce delivery times, cut costs, and enhance environmental sustainability.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
- Region
- Global
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Nine Business Models for Productive Use of Electricity in Africa: A Framework for Generating Profit and Impact in Off-Grid Energy
Improving energy access in rural Africa is crucial for poverty reduction, but grid electricity is often inaccessible or unaffordable — and off-grid alternatives present similar challenges. Olowo Aminu, Bodunde Akinola, Nneka Chime and Mosorire Aiyeyemi at CrossBoundary argue that Productive Use of Electricity (PUE) has the potential to solve these issues, boosting household income and economic growth, while increasing profitability for energy providers. They share a framework CrossBoundary has developed to help off-grid companies and other stakeholders plan for effective PUE implementation.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Technology
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