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IFC Backs CrossBoundary Access with US $10 Million Equity Investment
This investment supports the continued construction and expansion of CrossBoundary Access’s portfolio of distributed renewable energy assets, including mini-grids, battery-as-a-service (BaaS), and adjacent technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Zafiri Announces USD $176 Million Commercial Launch to Accelerate Energy Access via the Private Sector Cross sub-Saharan Africa
Zafiri will deploy patient equity into distributed renewable energy (DRE) companies and projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, including mini-grids, solar home systems, productive-use energy solutions, and clean cooking enterprises. At least 50% of the platform’s capital is expected to support mini-grids, solar home systems, and clean cooking.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: Beyond the Signal: Why Africa’s Next Telecom Era Will Be Built Beneath the Surface
The subsea cable buildout underway represents the most significant transformation in the continent’s digital infrastructure since mobile telephony arrived in the 1990s. But capacity without distribution remains an abstraction; redundancy without policy coordination remains a vulnerability.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visible From Space: New Research on Zipline’s Impact in Africa Beyond Healthcare
The findings document a 22% reduction in child fatalities from severe acute malnutrition, a 68% direct return on investment for smallholder pig farmers, and $850 to $1,200 in additional annual household income near Zipline distribution hubs.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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iFarmer Secures $1.5 Million Foreign Funding to Strengthen Agri Value Chain
The investment will support iFarmer’s working capital requirements, enabling it to expand agricultural input distribution and strengthen market linkages for farmers across Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2025: Vote for Your Favorites by Jan. 4
NextBillion’s “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest has been an annual tradition since 2012. As we do each December, we’ve highlighted 12 of our most-read articles from the past year: You can find links to them in this article, or on the homepage below. We invite you to read them and vote for the ones that influenced your thinking the most. You can vote up to once per hour between today (Dec. 19) and 11:59 pm EST on Jan. 4. We thank you for your support and engagement over these past 20 years, and we wish you a happy and prosperous 2026.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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U.S. Backs $150 Million Zipline Expansion to Transform Africa’s Healthcare Delivery
"The U.S. Department of State has approved a $150 million award to Zipline, the world’s largest autonomous logistics company, to support the expansion of its life-saving artificial intelligence-powered drone delivery infrastructure across Africa."
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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ADB Approves $460 Million Loan to Support Agricultural Solarization in India
The Maharashtra Power Distribution Enhancement Program for Agricultural Solarization aligns with the state’s Power Sector Vision 2030, which seeks to accelerate renewable energy adoption, improve rural energy access, and strengthen the financial sustainability of the power sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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