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Mastercard, M-Kopa enter pilot pay-as-you-go solar partnership in Africa
M-Kopa Solar makes solar home systems affordable to low-income off-grid households on a pay-as-you-go installment plan. Its customers get power on daily mobile money payment plans and the cost is lower than that of kerosene fuel.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘Eye-opening’ Impact Assessment: How Benchmarks Can Boost Social and Business Outcomes
For the last ten years, Acumen has been investing in off-grid energy companies in the developing world. In its new Energy Impact Report, the impact investing nonprofit talked directly to thousands of customers about their experiences - good and bad - with these companies’ energy products. Acumen's Kat Harrison discusses the survey's revealing results.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment, Investing
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To ethically mine crypto we need to use renewable energy
Blockchain technology and its most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, have been called of equal importance to the internet, capable of transforming businesses, government, and social interaction: the entire fabric of modern society.
- Categories
- Energy, Finance, Technology
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Everyone’s a winner? How ‘impact investing’ can make money – and do good
Previously the domain of corporations and the wealthy, impact investing is now available to anyone with small amounts of cash to spare - with investments in community cinemas, affordable housing or low cost gyms - from as little as $70.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Solar + Housing = Impact: Why Investors Should Boost Renewable Energy in Affordable Housing
When it comes to off-grid solar energy, we tend to think of market extremes such as rural poor people in developing countries without any electricity or well-off people in developed countries looking to charge up their Teslas. But Lori Chatman of Enterprise Community Loan Fund and Ismael Guerrero of the Denver Housing Authority detail a project to bring green power to public housing residents in the Mile High City. The project could serve as a model for impact investors looking to improve health, expand green jobs and earn a return.
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Husk Power Systems receives $20 million investment from Shell, Swedfund, ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies to scale renewable mini-grid business in Africa and Asia
Husk Power Systems a leading rural distributed utility company operating mini-grids in Asia and Africa, today announced a US $20 million equity investment* by Shell Technology Ventures LLC, Swedish development finance institution Swedfund International and ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies, ENGIE group’s impact investment fund.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Businesses in boxes: how solar is creating African entrepreneurs
Access to power is a major issue in Africa, and in solar, many people feel they have the solution.
Yet solar is doing more than switching on off-grid populations, and providing a potentially lucrative and investor friendly business opportunities to companies like M-KOPA Solar and BBOXX.- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Danger of Subsidized Solar: How Government and Donors Unwittingly Hobbled Our Business
After entering Myanmar as the country's first pay-as-you go solar power provider in 2015, Brighterlite recently ceased operations there, losing the nearly US $2 million invested in the startup. Jørund Buen, co-founder of the firm that owns Brighterlite, explains what went wrong – and the role that government and donors played in the failure.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
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