Tuesday the 3rd of November, CFIA Kenya Hub Manager Elsie Onsongo will share her insights into off-grid Energy Acces & Innovation in Africa. This talk is a part of Startup Tuesday The Hague, an initiative of WorldStartup, The Hague Tech, Apollo 14, YESDelft The Hague and The Hague Humanity Hub, all proudly part of Impact City. It is supported by We Share Ventures, HSD and Hotelschool The Hague.
Approximately 573 million people still lack adequate access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. Meeting this need is a challenging task given that electrification, particularly in rural areas where most un-connected households live, is capital intensive, and demand is unproven. Nevertheless, research and development in this area has yielded promising frugal innovations, among them, off-grid solutions such as mini-grids and solar home systems. The presentation will explore some of the challenges and opportunities that incumbents and start-ups in East Africa face when deploying technological innovations in off-grid areas, the business models underlying them, socio-cultural factors that influence the demand for and use of off-grid solutions, and a brief commentary about enablers in the policy environment.
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CFIA's Kenya Hub is part of a research project with the aim to improve the understanding of sustainability, inclusiveness and governance of mini-grids (SIGMA) in general and those in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. The research team is developing an improved evidence base and a multi-dimensional appreciation of issues and challenges that can support better decision-making for universal electrification globally. The project has been conceptualised through a collaborative process involving a team of UK-based researchers and research teams from four sub-Saharan Africa countries (namely Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania).
Click here for more details about the SIGMA research project