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Faster Energy Access Requires Better Data: This ‘Smart Platform’ Aims to Provide It
Despite the Sustainable Development Goals’ ambitious call for universal energy access by 2030, over 2 billion people still lack reliable electricity. Distributed renewable energy technologies could bridge this gap, but most countries suffering from energy poverty have yet to truly embrace them. One solution, say Rebekah Shirley and Monkgogi Otlhogile at Power for All, is for this fast-evolving sector to have more comprehensive and current data. To that end, the organization has built a free, open-access platform that helps users draw meaningful insights about energy access from the latest data. They discuss the platform and its benefits in this post.
- Categories
- Energy
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Bill Gates, on China trip, lauds free trade – and futuristic toilets
U.S. billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates unveiled on Tuesday in Beijing a futuristic toilet that doesn’t need water or sewers and uses chemicals to turn human waste into fertilizer.
- Categories
- WASH
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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A Recipe for Change: Can Blended Finance Help Trigger an ‘Impact Revolution’?
There’s a lot of uncertainty about how to mobilize the massive amounts of private capital necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. One promising possibility, says Christina Moehrle at Roots of Impact, is to explore innovative, “fusion food”-style approaches like blended finance – a growing market with over $100 billion mobilized to date. She explores blended finance’s potential to empower small businesses to reach impact at scale – along with the challenges of aligning both public and private stakeholders around impact.
- Categories
- Investing
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Press release: New UNCDF report examines how to get blended finance right in the world’s 47 least developed countries
Presenting the report, UNCDF’s Executive Secretary Judith Karl said: “While turning the ‘billions into trillions’ is essential, it should not just be about quantity, but also about quality and geography. Increased public and private financial flows must be made to work also for the world’s most vulnerable countries and for communities at risk of being left behind. We need to shift the dynamics of how resources are allocated and to come up with better ways of making finance work for poor people.”
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- Investing
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Financing the Energy Access Revolution: Three Technologies That Are Driving Africa’s Momentum
Technology has become central to the energy access story in Africa. It’s an essential part of all the key stages of an enterprise’s work – from raising the initial capital and financing the equipment, to designing and delivering the final product itself. And the new possibilities opened up by technology are increasingly seen as potential game-changers, in a region where some 590 million Africans – around 50 percent of the population – are still without access to electricity. Ben Good, the CEO of Energy 4 Impact, explores three areas in which tech-driven approaches – from crowdfunding to cryptocurrency – are making an impact.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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Report: Impact Investing in Latin America Remains Robust
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and LAVCA - The Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America reveal a growing industry marked by more refined investment strategies.
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- Press release
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Latin America
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Homegrown, African-Owned: A New Approach to Building Africa’s Off-Grid Energy Industry
How can Africa achieve universal access to electricity – and what role should social business and investing play? These questions remain controversial, as investors flood the off-grid solar space, while a small number of enterprises struggle to use that capital to expand beyond their core markets. According to Dan Murphy at Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors and Andreas Zeller at Open Capital Advisors, there’s a critical “missing link” where the industry should focus to reach the region’s 120 million underserved households. And there are thousands of African entrepreneurs who can lead the way – with the right kind of support from investors.
- Categories
- Energy
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Accelerating the SDGs: How Digital Finance Can Ignite Faster Progress Toward the Global Goals
With 2030 gradually drawing nearer, how can the world accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals? Global leaders discussed that question at the United Nations General Assembly last week, and according to Ruth Goodwin-Groen at the U.N.-based Better Than Cash Alliance, digital financial inclusion is emerging as a key answer. She discusses how digital financial services can be an important part of the solution for critical issues like hunger, health and climate change – and profiles a few of the growing number of governments and companies that are leading by example.
- Categories
- Finance
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