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Putting Energy to Work: Community and Business Partnerships for Sustainable Local Futures
Most attempts to create energy access without considering its social impact will simply end up as a checked box on a list, without moving the needle on any of the SDGs, writes Saurabh Biswas, a PhD candidate at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. He explores a new study where researchers were embedded with companies and non-profits in Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda and Bolivia. The research points to the value of “multi-dimensional partnerships” that bring together not only energy companies and consumers, but other diverse stakeholders.
- Categories
- Energy
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Adapt or Die: Accelerating Growth Amid a Rapidly Changing Energy Landscape
The clean cooking sector has made incredible strides in the past decade, with bilateral organizations and the development community working together to create standardized environmental impact goals. Now the industry is facing a new set of scaling challenges, say Jessica Alderman and Ron Bills of Envirofit International. The two share advice for enterprises seeking to level up, including how to avoid mission creep.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Press releae: PEG Africa raises $25M to accelerate off-grid solar expansion in West Africa
PEG Africa, a West Africa based pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar company, has raised a US$25 million Series C funding round, taking its funding total to US$50 million, and allowing it to cement its position as market leader in the region.
- Source
- Press release
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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BBOXX receives largest crowdfunded debt raise in history of solar energy in Africa
BBOXX and Trine’s funding initiative has hit the €6 million mark – in what is the largest crowd-funded debt raise in the history of solar energy in Africa. Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of BBOXX comments: “Hundreds of millions of people in Africa still live without electricity. Collaborating with Trine has allowed us to tap into retail investors who share our vision for transforming people’s lives through sustainable energy provision."
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Freeing the Data to Build the Off-Grid Energy Sector: A Case Study from Tanzania
Mini-grids and solar home systems are showing promise in many parts of Tanzania and other countries. But Christopher Arderne at the World Bank and Pepukaye Bardouille at the IFC flag a key challenge: Lack of coordination and information-sharing between government and the private sector means off-grid developers may target sites that will become grid-connected before they can recover their investments. Arderne and Bardouille share some free new data tools that blend local participation and infrastructure mapping to help off-grid players avoid this risk.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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Mastercard and Angaza shine for payments in emerging markets
San Francisco-based Angaza provides a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) embedded metering and monitoring technology, while Mastercard brings its digital payment solutions and infrastructure including QR technology.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Why Health Benefits Could Drive Customer Value for Solar Lighting and Clean Cookstoves
Solar lighting and improved cookstoves have multiple benefits. But according to a new FINCA International survey of end-users in Uganda, the benefits customers value most involve the products' perceived contributions to a cleaner, healthier household. Scott Graham and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA explore how highlighting these benefits can help product manufacturers and distributors – and the donors and investors who support them – to strengthen the uptake and usage of off-grid products.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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KKR Turns to Impact Fund Co-Investing With $510 Million Deal
KKR and private equity rivals including Bain Capital and TPG have dived into impact-investing strategies in the past two years, launching funds devoted to sustainability.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- energy access, ESG, impact investing