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Press Release: DFC and Shell Foundation Launch New Collaboration to Accelerate Access to Renewable Energy and Gender Inclusion in Low-Income Communities in Africa and Asia
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Shell Foundation (the UK-registered charity) today announced a new collaboration to bring affordable renewable energy to more than 5 million people in low-income areas of Africa and Asia by 2025.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- renewable energy, scale
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An Overlooked Engine of Economic Growth: Delivering Products – and Enabling Livelihoods – in Refugee Communities
The Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps in Kenya are home to nearly 200,000 people from 22 countries. Contrary to the stereotype of refugee settlements, these are thriving communities with around 2,500 businesses and over $56 million in economic activity per year. But as Sasha Kapadia at Mastercard points out, their economic growth is stifled by a lack of reliable electricity. She discusses a public-private partnership co-chaired by Mastercard and USAID, which is training people in these communities as sales agents for solar energy products, to spur entrepreneurship and boost access to energy and other essential products.
- Categories
- Energy
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The Development Bank of Southern Africa Issues $242 Million Green Bond to Support a Low Carbon Economy
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has announced the launch of its first green bond. The €200 million ($242 million) bond was issued through a private placement with the French development finance institution, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: Does Goal 7 Energy for All Need a Rethink?
"In the effort to produce renewable energy and decarbonise their economies, emerging countries have neglected the effect on marginalised populations, which could ultimately prove unsustainable for all," says Assistant Professor Jacobo Ramirez from the Department of Management, Society and Communication at CBS.
- Categories
- Energy
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Analysis: Developing Countries Offer Enormous Market Potential for Long-Duration Energy Storage
Achieving deep decarbonization of the global energy system requires energy storage that can store more energy for longer durations. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, thus far, have played a key role in supporting the integration of renewable energy resources into the electric grid. But as the share of variable renewable energy in power systems increases around the world, new energy technologies that can store electricity for longer durations at low cost are needed.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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Potential of Floating Solar PV in Africa Vastly Underrated
Many African countries are heavily dependent on hydropower to provide baseline power, which is being affected by increasingly frequent droughts. At the same time, Africa is characterised by a very high solar potential.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy
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Analysis: Has COVID-19 Prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to Go Green?
Following a year of coronavirus-related disruptions, China appears to be placing a greater focus on sustainable, digital and health-related projects in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Environment
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Minigrids and Cold Storage Are a Match Made in Sustainable Development Heaven – So What’s Keeping Them Apart?
The minigrid sector faces a dilemma: Most rural customers need electricity in the evenings, yet most minigrids generate their power during the day. This requires them to store unused power in expensive batteries, complement their solar power with diesel generators, or reduce production. As Seth Silverman and Tom Chaplin at Factor[e] Ventures explain, cold storage providers could offer minigrids reliable demand for their surplus power – yet these partnerships aren't happening. They explore the obstacles, and some potential solutions.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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