-
Sefa Finances $8 Million for Productive Use of Off-Grid Solar in Ethiopia
The funding will support a pilot project “to test the commercial viability and effectiveness of a business model integrating mini-grids with agro-industrial operations at nine sites in Ethiopia”, says the AfDB.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Empowering the Underserved: A New Report Highlights the Impact of Off-Grid Energy Solutions — And Some Emerging Challenges
Up to 674 million people living in the world's most vulnerable communities are projected to remain unelectrified by 2030. According to Kat Harrison at 60 Decibels, the off-grid sector could reach these customers, if these energy businesses and organizations are given the right support to successfully scale. She shares insights from a new 60 Decibels report, based on interviews with 79,000 energy customers in over 30 different countries over the last three years, which highlight some adjustments the sector could make to reach hundreds of millions of excluded customers.
-
Scaling Impact in the Last Mile Distribution Sector: The Pros and Cons of Different Pathways to Scale
The last mile distribution sector has gained significant momentum. But as Russell Lyseight at the Global Distributors Collective and Emma Colenbrander at Spring Impact point out, there is still a huge discrepancy between the size of the problem (i.e., last mile consumers’ lack of access to beneficial products and services) and the distribution solutions that currently exist. They explore several approaches last mile distributors can use to close this gap.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
-
Fship Ties up With India Post for Last-Mile Delivery of E-commerce Products
The collaboration will benefit Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) startups as well as small and medium businesses across India by enhancing last-mile delivery services for e-commerce products, the company said.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Women Sales Agents are the Key to Last-Mile Distribution: Here are Four Ways to Maximize Their Impact
Many development and entrepreneurship programs around the world have engaged women sales agents as last-mile distributors, as their involvement can advance multiple business and impact goals. But as Shihab Uzzaman and Trisha Clauson at Bopinc point out, though some of these initiatives have succeeded, many have failed. They share four key practices Bopinc leveraged in a last-mile distribution project in Bangladesh that can boost the performance of other businesses and programs that enlist women sales agents in their distribution efforts.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
-
Reshaping Africa’s Food Systems: Three Opportunities to Drive Sustainable, Inclusive and Scalable Impact
Africa's agricultural sector is plagued by low yields, fragmented value chains and a large finance gap, and the region is home to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. As Neil Wood, Oscar Garza and Hanna Dohrenbusch at Open Capital explain, these challenges have brought the sector to a critical juncture. They share three key solutions based on Open Capital's work on 450+ agriculture and food systems projects across Africa, which have the power to help drive the future of agriculture on the continent in the decades to come.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
-
Dvara KGFS Raises $14.4 Million Investment from IIX in India
Dvara KGFS, a repeat beneficiary of the WLB Series, is thrilled to extend its cooperation with IIX, an investor that has invested more than $150 million in India through the Series.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
The Climate Innovation Fund and Microsoft Invest $18 Million in Clean Energy Trading in Nigeria
Climate Fund Managers (CFM) and the Climate Innovation Fund of US IT giant Microsoft are injecting $18 million into Konexa to help it provide clean energy solutions to Nigerian businesses.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.