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Local Banks Back Sun King’s $156 Million Pay-As-You-Go Solar Financing in Kenya
The scale of this raise highlights Sun King’s leadership in off‑grid energy, but it also accentuates a growing divide in the market.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Connected Power: Ensuring Africa is Not Left in the Dark — or Offline
Sub-Saharan Africa has both the highest energy access and digital connectivity gaps in the world. As Ravi Suchak at Helios Towers explains, this is due not to a lack of demand, but to fundamental infrastructure barriers: Telecom towers and mobile networks require a reliable power supply, which is often absent or prohibitively expensive in rural areas, and electricity providers need consistent demand to de-risk rural energy investments. He explores a solution that addresses both of these needs: "connected power," a development approach that aligns energy and telecom infrastructure by positioning telecom towers as anchor customers for electrification projects.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology, Telecommunications
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Private Sector Developers Sign Funding Agreement to Fast-Track Rural Electrification in Zambia
This round of funding will stimulate and incentivize end-use demand for energy supplied by 43 existing and new mini-grids across Zambia, bringing reliable and affordable energy to underserved areas.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Acumen Invests $1 Million in Somalia’s KIMS to Grow Off-Grid Solar
"Sharia-compliant solar financing to boost energy access in Somalia."
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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CrossBoundary Access and ANKA Announce $20 Million Mini-Grid Partnership in Madagascar
"This partnership will connect over 62,000 Malagasy people to electricity by 2026."
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenyan Startup Solar Panda Acquires Zambian Solar Firm In Expansion Move
"The acquisition adds more than 100,000 customers to Solar Panda’s portfolio and expands its operations beyond Kenya and Senegal."
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Research: Nigerian and Kenyan Farmers Can Be First Step to Making Rural Mini Grids More Profitable and Affordable
"This article draws from research conducted under the ‘Sustainability, Inclusiveness and Governance of Mini grids in Africa’ (SIGMA) project, funded by a Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) research grant (ES/T006684/1)."
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Four Key Lessons for Implementing PAYGo 2.0: How the PAYGo Solar Sector Can Fulfill its Potential
In response to the recent NextBillion article by Dan Murphy and Willem Nolens at PAYGo Lab, on how companies and investors can move PAYGo solar toward "PAYGo 2.0,” Yariv Cohen at Ignite Energy Access argues that it's time for deep reflection and realignment in the industry. He explains why PAYGo 2.0 — an approach aimed at boosting repayment rates and profitability through improved customer selection and support — is the only way forward for the sector, and shares four lessons Ignite has learned from its efforts to implement this model.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing
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