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Microsoft Opens First $100 Million Africa Development Centre in Kenya and Nigeria
“The Africa Development Centre will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent. It will help us better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact,” Phil Spencer, Executive Vice President at Microsoft said.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, off-grid energy
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Press Release: Utilities 2.0 Coalition Unveils Vision for Utility of the Future in Low Energy Access Countries; Announces 1st Demonstration
Power companies in Uganda target win-win-win business models that accelerate electricity access, while benefiting utilities, private sector service companies and energy-poor consumers.
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- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why are Investments Surging in Off-Grid Energy? A Q&A with Wood Mackenzie’s Benjamin Attia
In partnership with Energy 4 Impact, Wood Mackenzie recently released "Strategic Investments in Off-grid Energy Access: Scaling the Utility of the Future at the Last Mile." Among its many headlines, the research found that total annual investment in the off-grid energy access sector surpassed $500 million in 2018 for the first time. To find out what's fueling it and what it means for the millions living off the power grid, we spoke with Benjamin Attia, a research analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and an African solar PV markets expert.
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Are Rural Customers Ready to Consume More Energy at the Right Price? New Mini-Grid Research Offers Intriguing Results
Setting appropriate pricing is crucial to any business, but it's especially challenging for mini-grid developers serving rural customers in emerging countries. If the price is too high, customers can’t afford to buy enough power. If it's too low, mini-grids risk their commercial viability. Authors at CrossBoundary discuss a new report exploring the impact of massive price reductions on energy consumption and mini-grid revenues. The results are striking, and potentially significant for both providers and their customers.
- Categories
- Energy
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PAYGo Solar at a Crossroads: Why the Industry Must Choose Between Protecting Customers and Satisfying Investors
Over $500 million in investor financing has poured into off-grid solar in the past year. But while that's an exciting development for the sector, there is a downside. As BrightLife CEO Stefan Grundmann explains, PAYGo solar operators are facing heightened investor pressure to expand their reach and aggressively deliver greater sales. In response, many companies have taken new measures to boost business – some of which have led to troubling new risks for customers. Grundmann explores this issue, and how the industry and its investors should respond to it.
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Bridging the ‘Off-Grid/On-Grid’ Divide: How Grid Integration Can Build the Energy System of the Future
The cost of solar modules has dropped by over 80% since 2009, and it’s estimated that the world’s solar power capacity will triple by 2022, driven in part by off-grid energy. Yet without an effort to make connections between off-grid systems and national grids, the growing global movement toward mini-grid solutions cannot reach its potential, says Tatiana Bessarabova at Endeva. She explores how Endeva, SOLshare and other players in the energy sector are working to make grid integration a reality in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Press release: BBOXX Unveils Its Vision for the “Community of the Future” for the Developing World
Tomorrow’s Connected Community is being rolled out in the rural village of Sikpé Afidégnon in Togo, following its inauguration by the H.E. President Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Republic of Togo. The entire village comprised of 300 houses and 4,000 people in the south of the country is to be powered by solar electricity including, streetlights, households, schools and small shops.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press release: Acumen Announces Nearly $70 Million Close of For-Profit Off-Grid Energy Fund through its subsidiary Acumen Capital Partners
KawiSafi aims to deliver clean, affordable energy to 10 million people, at least half of whom live in poverty, and displace more than one million tons of carbon dioxide in the next 10 years, to address energy poverty and help avert the current climate crisis. To date, KawiSafi has invested $21 million to impact 4.3 million people and avert 360 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions.