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From Early Adopters to Tech Laggards: Understanding Off-Grid Energy Customers
The team at 60 Decibels recently set out to understand the motivations of customers served by off-grid energy firms in Africa. Researchers quizzed customers in Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia about their attitudes and behaviours toward new products to find out who were the early innovators, early adopters or tech laggards. Kat Harrison and Hassan Nasser of 60 Decibels explain the research and how firms can convert ambivalent customers into product ambassadors.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Impact Assessment, Technology
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Lululemon Is Helping the UN’s Humanitarian Aid Workers Take Care of Themselves
While most aid workers are happy to help disaster victims, refugees, displaced persons, and families find a path forward, it’s tough work. PTSD, anxiety, and stress-related illnesses are all well-known side effects of humanitarian work.
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What Rural Solar Energy Enterprises Can Learn from Mobisol’s Hard-Earned Lesson
Energy access pioneer Mobisol’s insolvency, announced last spring, sparked questions about the industry’s health. But according to Rob Goodier, managing editor at Engineering for Change, subsequent analyses suggest that many of the company's problems were internal, not a reflection of the industry as a whole. He explores what the rural energy sector can learn from Mobisol’s struggles, based on interviews with industry insiders and two people close to the company.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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A Three-Pronged Strategy to Upskill India’s Workforce
Against this backdrop, India is driving unique initiatives to convert its demographic potential into a dividend that will fuel growth.
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: Initiative for Blended Finance Launches to Make Sustainable Development More Effective
University of Zurich unites with leading research, knowledge and practice partners to provide excellent, practice-driven research & education for a more powerful collaboration between public & philanthropic funders and private investors.
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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GSMA signs $46.5M funding partnership with DFID
The partnership will unearth critical insights on the needs of the underserved and identify and invest in mobile-enabled innovations and business models which can drive inclusion at scale.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Viewpoint: To Solve the World’s Problems, the Global Development Community Turns Towards the Private Sector
Global capital markets hold more than $200-trillion in assets, and an allocation of just 1 per cent of these assets toward the SDGs would go a long way.
- Categories
- Finance
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Serving Refugee Communities with Tech, Energy Access, Entrepreneurship: Mastercard and USAID’s Collective Approach
Last year, USAID and Mastercard established the Smart Communities Coalition (SCC), a network of 35+ public and private organizations. The group is developing new ways companies, NGOs, governments and UN agencies can co-design and co-implement programs that empower people and enable growth in energy access, connectivity and digital tools. Katrina Pielli with USAID and Sasha Kapadia with Mastercard explain why the group chose to focus on Uganda and Kenya as pilot countries, which collectively host over 1.5 million refugees.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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