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Aligning Capital with Justice: How Innovative Finance Can Enable the Final Stretch Toward Energy Access in Africa
The world has made unprecedented progress toward universal energy access, and today over 90% of the global population has electricity. But as Roeland Menger at Nithio explains, the remaining 10% live in rural and low-income communities — primarily in Africa — that typical business and funding models can't reach. He argues that the exclusion of these markets is not only ineffective but unjust, and highlights several innovative investment approaches that are expanding decentralized energy to the last mile.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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Nigeria’s Koolboks Raises $11 Million to Scale Solar-Powered Refrigeration Across Africa
The company designs solar-powered refrigeration units that pair ice-battery thermal storage with IoT telemetry.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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It’s Time to Rethink Universal Health Coverage in Africa: Introducing ‘Access-as-a-Service’
As global health funding contracts, traditional brick-and-mortar healthcare delivery models are becoming financially and operationally unsustainable, in Africa and across low- and middle-income countries. Joanne Peter at Jhpiego and Rob Beyer at Villgro Africa argue that this raises the need for innovative new pathways toward universal health coverage. They propose one such approach, developed through their work at the HealthTech Hub Africa: "Access-as-a-Service," a model that combines in-person care options with first-line healthcare provided through digital channels.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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To Truly Innovate, WASH Funders Need to Get Their Hands Dirty: Key Learnings from Five Years of Pioneering Impact-Linked Finance in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
The water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector faces a funding gap of around US $138 billion per year if it hopes to reach SDG 6’s goal of universal WASH access by 2030. According to Arnaud Alt and Annemarie Mastenbroek at Aqua for All, and Christina Moehrle, to address this shortfall, funders need to develop more hands-on financing approaches, working closely with entrepreneurs and organizations to better understand their context, challenges and needs. They explain why Impact-Linked Finance (ILF) represents one such approach, and share two key lessons from Aqua for All's "ILF for WASH" program.
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Costa Rica and World Bank Pioneer Marine Environmental Payments to Protect Mangroves and Coastal Livelihoods
"The initiative extends the country’s results-based finance mechanisms from terrestrial to coastal and marine ecosystems."
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Latin America
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Press Release: Human Planet Acquires Advisory Division of KOIS to Jumpstart New Innovative Finance Force
"Human Planet, following its acquisition of the Advisory Division of KOIS, becomes an integrated advisory firm offering a full spectrum of services from programme design to innovative finance. "
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Global
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ENGIE Energy Access Tanzania to Receive EUR 1.3 Million of Results-Based Financing to Scale Up Access to Clean Cooking
The company is well known for its solar home systems in Tanzania, and it is well placed to expand its business to biodigesters.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Global Off-Grid Solar Investment Falls 30% Year-On-Year to US $300 Million
This project is a US$750 million investment from the World Bank to improve Nigeria’s energy gap, with US$300 million earmarked for off-grid solar in particular.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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