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Press Release: Distribution Network Infrastructure Drives Down Capex And Boosts IRR For Mini-Grids, CrossBoundary Mini-Grid Innovation Lab Finds
Analysis of data from 2020 to 2023 shows that the adoption of grid densification positively impacts grid economics, customer acquisition, and grid utilization.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A Blueprint for Productive Use of Clean Energy: An Accelerator in Nigeria Generates Solutions for Linking Mini-Grids to Agricultural Equipment in Rural Communities
There are over 70 mini-grids operating in Nigeria today, and similar businesses are delivering clean energy in other underserved communities around the world. But as Scarlett Santana at RMI explains, serving these markets presents unique challenges, since if customers lack productive uses for the electricity they sell, mini-grids’ revenue model fails. She explores how mini-grids can address this challenge by partnering with agricultural equipment providers, and discusses an accelerator co-led by RMI that is providing the ecosystem to make these partnerships happen.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Investing
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Press Release: United States Announces $89 Million Award to Advance Access to Clean, Reliable Energy in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Power Africa program will support 10 million on- and off-grid connections for households and businesses in the region.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Paygo Solar Startup Yellow Raises $14 Million to Scale in Africa
Following the new funding, Yellow plans to deepen its reach in its current markets Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Madagascar.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Innovation Created an Off-Grid Solar Market in Rural Bangladesh — And What Other Countries Can Learn from this Model
In the early 2000s, a small-scale World Bank pilot project in Bangladesh unexpectedly grew into the largest off-grid solar program in the world. According to Nancy Wimmer at microSOLAR, the program's success provided the rest of the world with a model for how low- and middle-income countries can develop a nationwide, rural market for decentralized solar systems driven by home-grown companies. She explores how other countries can adapt Bangladesh’s market-creating innovations to their own local environments.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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Solar Power Provider Seeks $100 Million for Nigeria Expansion
WATT Renewable Corp aims to raise as much as $100-million by the end of 2024 to expand its business of providing solar power.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Repairing Electronics: A Circular Economy Solution for Reducing E-Waste and Building Resilience in Rural Africa
The accumulation of electronic waste is an increasingly urgent issue around the world. And as Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid points out, Africa is ground zero for this problem, since a significant amount of e-waste created globally is shipped to dumpsites across the continent. She explores how repairing electronic devices can help address this challenge while also boosting the local economy, as shown by a SolarAid program that's training repair technicians in Zambia and Malawi to extend the lifespan of solar devices.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Press Release: Sun King and Citi Close First $130 Million Sustainable Securitisation to Broaden Access to Finance for Off-Grid Solar in Kenya
The transaction aims to expedite clean and reliable energy access for Kenyan families and businesses.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa