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Off-Grid Solar Gains Ground as Least-Cost Driver of Energy Access, Jobs and Growth
A new report points to a maturing off-grid solar market that could power up to 398 million more people by 2030, helping close the gap for the 655 million still without electricity.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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SunCulture Closes $10 Million Solar Irrigation Securitisation
"The transaction will allow SunCulture to recycle capital tied up in customer receivables and expand solar irrigation financing."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mini-grids May Not Be the Answer: Why Shifts in Technology and Funding Have Changed the Energy Access Outlook in Africa
There is intense pressure to reach universal energy access by 2030, which requires a further 666 million people to be electrified, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. And according to Stewart Hicks at Bamboo Capital Partners, mini-grids are often viewed as a key part of the solution, leading to growing calls for more private sector investment in this technology. But he argues that this focus on mini-grids may be distracting from faster, more cost-effective approaches. He explains why mini-grids — despite being a good solution in some areas — have several under-reported constraints, and explores some emerging alternative electrification models that may present a more realistic path toward greater energy access in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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19 Firms Get $1.5 Million Grant to Boost Solar-Powered Businesses in Africa
The programme which aims to deploy 3,800 productive use appliances, including solar-powered water pumps, refrigerators and milling machines, while creating over 3,000 green jobs across the three countries.Eight Nigerian companies were among the beneficiaries selected for the initiative.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Financing the Future: How Off-Balance-Sheet Special Purpose Vehicles Could Fund Africa’s Cleantech Transition
Across Africa, founders are tackling some of the world’s most difficult development challenges with cleantech solutions that require significant capital expenditure. But according to Julia Lawson-Johns, and Amar Inamdar at KawiSafi Ventures, beneath this wave of innovation lies a capital architecture that is still too shallow to enable the scale these firms now require. They argue that off-balance-sheet financing via special-purpose vehicles could provide cleantech enterprises with an alternative means of securing upfront liquidity to finance growth, and explore how these vehicles could power Africa’s cleantech transition.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Investing, Transportation
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WFP and Government of Nepal Launch Innovation Accelerator for Climate and Food Security
The accelerator supports local start-ups to pilot and scale solutions across the food system, including solar-powered irrigation and clean energy solutions, digital advisory platforms for farmers, satellite-based insurance and climate data tools and market and value chain innovations for smallholders.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Global Energy Alliance and World Bank Group Partner to Expand Productive Use of Energy Across Africa
As access expands, the next challenge is ensuring that electricity supports livelihoods and economic activity across households, businesses and communities.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Global
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Africa’s Energy Future Needs More Than ‘Trickle-Down Electronomics’: Why the Debate Around False Trade-Offs Risks Leaving Millions Behind
Africa’s energy access debate is increasingly focused on the question of whether to prioritize household access or industrial and productive uses that can drive economic growth. But as Ryan Kilpatrick and Patrick K. Tonui at GOGLA argue, the deeper challenge is about understanding how electricity demand, income generation and productivity evolve in practice — and determining how best to balance the technologies, delivery models, financing structures and timelines involved in widespread electrification. They discuss these overlapping factors, and push back against the concept of “trickle-down electronomics” — i.e., the assumption that prioritizing industry will enable governments to expand grids to unserved areas and allow households to afford electricity over time.
- Categories
- Energy
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