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Africa Needs to Regain Momentum on Electrification Effort, Says IEA
COVID-19 pandemic knocked the continent off its course of extending access to reliable energy to over half of the world's population that still lack access to electricity.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Four Key Challenges Facing India’s Local Energy Enterprises During COVID-19 – And 16 Ways Funders Can Help
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on last-mile energy companies. SELCO Foundation recently conducted surveys and conversations with 33 local Indian energy enterprises about the challenges they're facing. Sarah Alexander explores what these businesses shared about how governments, investors, philanthropies and other stakeholders can support them.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Social Enterprise
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The Impact of COVID-19 as Seen in Solar Payment Data – and How One Off-Grid Energy Company is Responding
Since COVID-19 began, the energy company Bboxx has been monitoring payment trends among its 250,000+ pay-as-you-go solar customers in 12 emerging markets. Analysts at Bboxx assess the data from four African countries, exploring what it says about the pandemic's impact on solar electricity users – and about how to support these customers during the crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Scaling Cleaner Cooking Solutions in East Africa: Acumen Discusses Its Kopagas Exit
This is not just a problem of the inconvenience of outdated technology, but of health: more than 4 million people—the majority of whom are women and girls—die each year from exposure to the air pollution produced by cooking with open fires in their homes. That’s more than the number of deaths each year from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Renewables in Focus to Revive Energy Sector as Economies Ease Lockdowns
A sudden slump in energy consumption due to worldwide lockdown caused by the COVID-19 had threatened the energy transition due to a plunge in oil prices. However, as predicted by COE-EDP clean energy and inward-looking policies are the focus of the reviving energy sector across economies in the post-lockdown period.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Agency Banking and Off-Grid Energy: Banking the Unbanked Through Solar
In rural Africa, off-grid renewable energy products are gaining momentum - but their upfront cost can make them inaccessible to low-income customers. Commercial banks have struggled to penetrate these markets, but Thelma Obiakor at the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa explains that this is now changing. Thanks to agency banking, financial services and solar companies are providing a bridge to both energy access and greater financial inclusion.
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Four Lessons Utility Providers Can Learn from the Financial Inclusion Sector
Over 1 billion people lack reliable access to essential services like sanitation, potable water and electricity - and reaching them remains a stubborn challenge. But as Jacob Winiecki and Malika Anand at BFA point out, the financial inclusion industry has learned a lot about how to serve low-income customers in remote communities. They share four key lessons in this thought-provoking article.
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Press Release: COVID-19 Intensifies the Urgency to Expand Sustainable Energy Solutions Worldwide
To meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets by 2030, countries must safeguard the gains already attained and accelerate efforts to achieve affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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