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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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Global Scramble for Battery Metals Intensifies as U.S., Chinese Firms Target Zambia’s $10 Billion Critical Minerals Market
Rising global demand for battery metals is reshaping investment flows into Africa, with U.S. and Chinese mining firms rapidly expanding their presence in Zambia.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- e-mobility, mining, renewable energy
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Poor Battery Recycling Drives Lead Poisoning Risks in Africa’s Solar Energy Boom
Lead-acid batteries are widely used in many low-income markets because they are cheaper than alternatives like lithium-ion batteries, but safely recycling them requires costly infrastructure that is often lacking.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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IFC and Santander Brazil Are Partnering to Catalyze the Eco Invest Program, Expanding Sustainable Financing in Brazil
Through this support for the Eco Invest initiative, IFC will help expand Santander’s ability to offer more affordable financing to sustainable projects eligible under the program’s criteria, in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable construction, clean transportation, and agribusiness resilience.
- Region
- Latin America
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SolarAid CEO John Keane is Stepping Down
SolarAid today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, John Keane, has decided to step down from his role in June
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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responsAbility Invests Up to USD $15 Million in South East Asia’s Skye Renewables
With this funding, Skye Renewables plans to scale its project portfolio in Southeast Asia, aiming to increase its installed capacity to several hundred MWp within five years.
- Region
- South Asia
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Farming Under Solar: How Agriphotovoltaics Can Transform Rural Livelihoods in India
As India scales up solar energy, a critical question has emerged: Can this transition deliver clean power without displacing farmers from their land? According to Laxmi Sharma, Bidisha Banerjee, Subhodeep Basu and Ashok Gulati at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, the country's renewable energy expansion has been led by large, ground-mounted solar projects, often located on agricultural land. But while this model has been effective in scaling solar capacity, it has also created a disconnect between the energy and agriculture sectors, while limiting participation among farmers. They explore how agriphotovoltaics (Agri-PV) can address these issues by enabling the cultivation of crops beneath or between panel arrays, and discuss the pros and cons of different Agri-PV operating models.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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ECOIL Bags $2.5 Million to Turn Waste Cooking Oil Into Biofuel
The Jaipur-based startup intends to use the fresh capital to scale its operations, improve tech and expand its presence across key markets in India.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- innovation, renewable energy, scale, startups, waste
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