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Programmes

Programmes

Current programmes

Pump Up

Pump Up is a collaboration between Mercy Corps-Energy 4 Impact and leading agricultural equipment suppliers, Simusolar and Tulima Solar. With financial support from Danida Green Business Partnership and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this project seeks to promote the adoption of solar irrigation technologies and the integration of climate-smart agricultural practices and water resource management among low-income farmers. Launched in July 2023, Pump Up aims to revolutionise Uganda's solar water pumping market and establish a compelling business case for serving smallholder farmers, a crucial but often overlooked segment that forms the backbone of the country's economy.

POSSIBLE

Funded by the Women’s Philanthropy Group within Mercy Corps, the 12-month Productive Horticulture Solutions for Senegal and Benin that Leverage Clean Energy (POSSIBLE) programme will help 150 smallholder women farmers and rural entrepreneurs in rural off-grid regions of Senegal and Benin to gain access to clean energy technologies. Deploying efficient productive use of energy appliances such as irrigation, refrigeration and processing equipment will not only enable the entrepreneurs to capitalise on more economic opportunities, but it will also increase local food and water security whilst bolstering their resilience to climate change.

Promotion of productive uses of energy for mini-grid operators in Senegal

This GIZ-funded project seeks to demonstrate that integrating the productive use of energy in the design of mini-grid business models can effectively improve the financial sustainability of the energy systems and create new economic opportunities within the local community. By increasing the power output of an under-performing mini-grid and stimulating demand from local enterprises through capacity building, financing and equipment supply, the 11-month project will gather evidence to inform national strategies for scaling up off-grid renewable energy systems integral to galvanising rural development.

Financial Inclusion for Clean Cooking in Rwanda and Sierra Leone (FICCARS)

The FICCARS programme is a three year collaboration with Jersey Overseas Aid aiming to promote financial inclusion amongst women living and working in informal urban settlements. By enabling women to purchase modern clean cooking solutions on credit, the programme not only alleviates the labour and health risks of cooking with biomass, it helps them build their credit history. A financial track record gives low-income women a better chance of accessing the loan products and services they need to transition out of poverty and improve their home and working lives.

RAPID

With funding from USAID, the Resilience Building for Agro-Pastoralists in North Kordofan (RAPID) programme will address the immediate needs, resilience and livelihoods of 40,000 people affected by crisis and conflict in this Sudanese region. The 18-month Mercy Corps programme includes technical assistance around energy from Energy 4 Impact which will evaluate local market opportunities for installing electrification, clean energy and solar energy systems as a driver for socio-economic recovery. It will also help identify suitable old waterpoint for rehabilitation with solar pumps and oversee the construction of separate water distribution systems for communities and livestock.

LEAF – Livelihoods & Energy Access Facility

LEAF is a B2B e-commerce digital platform making productive energy products and services accessible and tailored to the needs of local SMEs operating in key agriculture value chains in rural Africa. Designed by Energy 4 Impact, with funding from the Vitol Foundation, LEAF uses a partnership model to deliver a one-stop-shop for all businesses buying or selling PUE appliances and services. It also bundles critical services for local market players including insurance, finance, transport, storage, logistics, market fitting, route-to-market, productivity opportunity mapping and mentoring. By connecting manufacturers, suppliers, consumers and off-takers operating in key agriculture value chains, LEAF will serve a marketplace that fosters more resilient and productive rural businesses and communities.

Get.invest Finance Readiness Support

The Get.invest Finance Readiness Support, a service of the European programme Get.invest, enables locally owned and managed clean energy businesses to access finance. Launched in 2021, the service provides early-stage, micro, small and medium-sized energy companies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific with hands-on, in-depth business development advice and coaching, along their fundraising journey. The concept is based on extensive stakeholder consultations and is being further developed in a first pilot phase in close cooperation with several industry partners. Implemented by eight leading advisory firms, amongst them Energy 4 Impact, the Get.invest Finance Readiness Support will initially draw on their networks to support innovative, impactful and scalable businesses. Get.invest is a renewable energy investment mobilisation programme supported by the European Union, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria.

APOLOU

This Mercy Corps programme aims to improve the livelihoods of low-income pastoralists in the Karamoja region of Uganda by revitalising the milk production and supply value-chains. Improvements in livestock farming practices will raise milk volumes whilst business support will help dairy farmers reach more profitable markets. Technical assistance from Energy 4 Impact will assess the business case for solarising the local milk chilling centre as well as identify potential income-generating activities that make productive use of surplus energy during low production seasons.

Promoting Climate-Friendly Cooking in the Coastal Region of Kenya

Co-funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the Promotion of Climate-Friendly Cooking in the Coastal Region of Kenya project is set to strengthen local cookstoves businesses in the remote coastal counties of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, and Taita Taveta. Through the provision of technical assistance, business mentoring and linkages across the sector, it will increase production and sales of improved cookstoves which markedly reduce the amount of fuel required. The project ultimately aims to mitigate climate change and the environmental degradation caused by heavy reliance on biomass for cooking.

Livelihoods and Energy Access for Refugees

The Maradi region of Niger has been dealing with the influx of Nigerian refugees and internally displaced people since 2017, following attacks by armed bandits on both sides of the Niger-Nigeria border. The region also suffers from desertification meaning firewood is scarce and expensive to use. Since 2021, Mercy Corps has been working in the region to improve access to gas energy and livelihood opportunities of host and refugee communities. The implementation of an LPG supply chain by Mercy Corps, with funding from the BPRM, has enabled a large part of the population in four host and refugee communities to access LPG cooking solutions for their household and livelihood needs. The project supports the most vulnerable households through a voucher system. This increases the turnover of retailers in the supply chain recharging network and reduces stress on the environment.

CATALYSING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE INFORMAL SECTOR

Funded by Sida, this 4-year Mercy Corps programme aims to improve the livelihoods of 30,000 vulnerable women working informally in food production and processing in the rural and peri-urban areas surrounding Bulawayo, Mutare and Harare in Zimbabwe. Providing capacity-building support alongside access to reliable clean energy, the programme will boost their productivity, income and resilience to economic and climate shocks. Energy 4 Impact will support by mapping the energy-enabled market opportunities for women-led enterprises and designing solar energy interventions that will drive growth in key local sectors such as light manufacturing, waste management and food production.

Facilitating access to PUE for agricultural communities in Benin

This GIZ-funded project seeks to promote the use of equipment powered by renewable energy within agricultural communities in Benin. Energy 4 Impact will help recruit farmers through awareness-raising activities, provide business development services for technology suppliers and organise local agricultural coaching programmes on how to integrate productive use of energy solutions in various value-chains. Solar equipment for irrigation will help secure better harvests, whilst the use of post-harvest machinery and the application of sound agricultural practices will help realise greater productivity and profitability for farmers.

P-DEC

With funding from USAID, the Partnership for the Development of Eastern Congo (P-DEC) programme adopts bottom-up peacebuilding approaches to bridge social divisions in DRC. As conflict is partly fuelled by competition over the use of natural resources for energy, the programme aims to strengthen the local energy market through capacity-building partnerships with private companies. Seeking to increase the productive use of energy within the agricultural sector in order to spur local socio-economic development, Energy 4 Impact will also provide business support to farming enterprises including access to appliances, finance and markets.

ENACT – Energy access for the urban poor in Freetown and Kampala

The Enabling African Cities for Transformative Energy Access (ENACT) programme works with local governments, the private sector, and local communities to create an enabling environment that helps to improve energy security for the urban poor living in informal settlements and slums in Freetown and Kampala. The project aims to introduce market led energy solutions to provide adequate, safe, reliable, clean and affordable forms of energy to urban poor communities. The project is funded by UK aid from the UK government, managed by The Carbon Trust, and delivered by ICLEI Africa with support from Energy 4 Impact.

Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO)

Funded by IKEA Foundation and UK Aid and delivered by Carbon Trust and Energy 4 Impact, PREO aims to promote renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa to boost long-term job creation and reduce poverty. It supports collaborative projects and partnerships that use a market-led approach to stimulating productive use of energy (PUE) in off-grid areas and, in doing so, it aims to create more than 3500 sustainable jobs and empower more than 1000 women through their engagement in productive energy use activities and associated value chains. In addition, PREO also aims to create a globally significant centre of PUE expertise in the sector, by developing a platform to support, direct and communicate market and project learning, which will be key to achieving wider impact.

Transforming Energy Access (TEA)

Transforming Energy Access (TEA) is a research and innovation platform supporting the technologies, business models and skills needed to enable an inclusive clean energy transition. Funded by UK aid, TEA works via partnerships to support emerging clean energy generation technologies, productive appliances, smart networks, energy storage and more. It increases access to clean, modern energy services for people and enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, improving their lives, creating jobs and boosting green economic opportunities. Energy 4 Impact is a member of a consortium led by Carbon Trust that works to draw the link between innovation in research, businesses and projects in Africa.

CROWD POWER

Crowd Power is a donor programme funded by the UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). The programme aims at developing access to finance through crowdfunding for SMEs in the energy access sector in developing countries. In particular, Crowd Power tackles systemic and operational challenges commonly faced by crowdfunding in the energy access space. It seeks to accelerate the sustainable growth of the sector through targeted support for equity and debt crowdfunding platforms in energy access campaigns. Since 2015, Crowd Power has supported over 70 energy access companies to raise over $17 million through 14 crowdfunding platforms. Crowd Power has supported over 300 campaigns.

Energy Catalyst

Energy Catalyst accelerates the innovation needed to end energy poverty. Through financial and advisory support, and by building strategic partnerships and uncovering new insights, Energy Catalyst supports the development of technologies and business models that can improve lives in Africa and Asia. Energy Catalyst is an Innovate UK programme with co-funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Global Challenges Research Fund, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It is delivered in cooperation with partners including the Carbon Trust, Energy 4 Impact, Power for All, Intellecap and Open Capital Advisors.

Project Jua

Funded by the Ovo Foundation, Project Jua, which means ‘sunshine’ in Swahili, targets the installation of solar PV systems in private schools and clinics in some of the least developed counties of Northern and Coastal Kenya. Following a successful pilot in 2017 that provided solar power to 15,000 students and over 550 patients every week in Turkana and Kilifi, this expanded phase of the project aims to benefit 300,000 people across 300 sites in 3 years.

Past programmes

Charge Up!

A collaboration between Energy 4 Impact, Arc Ride, Fika Mobility, Imperial College London and Strathmore University, Charge Up! was funded by P4G Partnerships to pilot a network of 45 e-mobility charging stations across Nairobi. Offering convenient and affordable battery swaps for electric scooters and motorcycle taxis, this 12 month project aimed to prove the viability of the battery-as-a-service model to investors. By developing a scalable business model that can be replicated in any African city, the project sought to bring cleaner and greener modes of transportation to Kenya and beyond.

Water and Energy for Food (WE4F)

This collaboration with German development agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) sought to improve livelihoods, food security and resilience amongst smallholder farmers living in poor and marginalised areas across Benin, Senegal and Tanzania through the introduction of solar irrigation technologies and innovative business models. Its holistic approach encompassed activities to raise awareness amongst farming communities of the advantages of solar-powered irrigation, agronomic support, energy efficiency in post-harvest processing and routes to market development.

Modern Energy Cooking Services in Rwanda

In 2021, the UK aid-funded Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme appointed Energy 4 Impact as its in-country partner in Rwanda. Energy 4 Impact helped MECS to manage the programme by developing linkages across the sector as well as engage stakeholders such as policy-makers, regulators, development partners and the private sector as part of its review of modern energy cookstove markets and government policy towards electric cooking. Energy 4 Impact also supplied a trial cohort with e-cooking equipment in order to study the consumer environment by means of ‘cooking diaries’ in which participants recorded their cooking practices, preferences and aspirations, as well as their energy consumption.

Foyre Rewbe2 (Women and Energy)

Funded by ENERGIA, the programme aimed to scale-up access to productive uses of energy for women enterprises in Senegal. Following the success of the previous Women’s Economic Empowerment and Advocacy programmes, it included interventions designed to: (1) increase the number of women entrepreneurs equipped with skills, knowledge and resources to use energy to enhance productivity; (2) create an enabling policy and market environments through enhanced awareness and involvement of the public and private sector; (3) build evidence and knowledge by testing pioneering innovations; and (4) strengthen synergies with actors operating in the same space.

Deliver for Good Senegal

Deliver for Good is a global campaign advocating for gender equality and investments in women and girls to achieve sustainable development for all across 12 development priorities. Energy 4 Impact and Senegalese NGO Siggil Jigeen joined forces to drive the campaign in Senegal on issues from education at all levels for women and girls, to health and access to resources including energy, water and sanitation.

Advisory support on clean cooking funding landscape for MECS

Energy 4 Impact partnered with Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) on their five-year research programme aimed at accelerating the global transition from burning biomass for cooking and heating towards ‘clean’ fuels such as renewable electricity, ethanol or LPG. Commencing in 2020 and funded by UK Aid (FCDO), the programme produced evidence to support the innovations that make modern energy cooking services more affordable, reliable and sustainable. To pave the way for the introduction of more finance for clean cooking, Energy 4 Impact analysed sector trends including market development, the uptake of clean technologies and challenges raising capital.

Kenya’s Energy and Cash Plus pilot project - Mwangaza Mashinani

A two-year pilot ended in October 2020 after successfully trialling the integration of a cash top-up into the Kenyan government’s pre-existing cash transfer scheme for vulnerable households. Cash top-ups helped boost clean energy uptake in the deprived counties of Kilifi and Garissa by enabling households to purchase solar home systems. In early 2021, the Energy and Cash Plus Initiative, AKA Mwangaza Mashinani, was extended by 17 months to reach a further 3500 off-grid households. Supported by UNICEF and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the programme aimed to improve living conditions, alleviate poverty and boost incomes for targeted households with a focus on addressing educational and health outcomes for children.

The Rockefeller project

The Rockefeller project sought to address energy poverty in Africa by catalysing the growth of a viable mini-grid sector. In an effort to stimulate electricity demand and increase affordability, Energy 4 Impact piloted a tariff-by down facility to enable consumers to afford and utilise more power; and a working capital facility for mini-grid developers to finance the purchase of energy efficient appliances to be sold on credit to their consumers (households and commercial). This work produced an evidence base and made the case for more systematic support for mini-grids and the low income customers and businesses they serve on the key business model drivers: tariff and consumption.

Piloting biogas in Benin towards national scaling

Cooking with firewood has significant negative impacts on the environment, livelihoods, and health. However, biogas presents a sustainable alternative. In 2020, the Swedish Postcode Foundation granted Energy 4 Impact funding to pilot biodigesters on northern Benin farms and demonstrate the viability of a biodigesters market based on the sales of the resulting compost. This initiative supported 80 farmers in acquiring biodigesters or organic compost, offering technical guidance, business mentoring, and financial institution connections. The knowledge gained from this pilot informed a proposal to assist the Benin government in expanding the National Biogas Program.

Solarising banana value-chains in Senegal

Part of the Green People’s Energy initiative launched by GIZ, this Energy 4 Impact-led project aimed to improve the livelihoods of banana farmers across rural off-grid areas in the Tambacounda region. The project helped 1,000 people employed by micro-enterprises (50% of which are women-owned) involved in the production, processing and conditioning of bananas. The project sought to increase productivity and incomes, as well as cut production costs and reduce wastage through the adoption of solar-powered irrigation, processing and preservation units. The farmers will also benefited from access to finance and markets, enabling them to invest in solar-powered equipment whilst also building their capacity to use it profitably.

Renewable Energy 4 Refugees (RE4R)

In partnership with Practical Action we are working in Kigeme, Nyabiheke and Gihembe refugee camps in Rwanda to improve energy access for both refugees and host communities. Practical Action is spearheading the provision of solar-powered electricity for households, small enterprises, institutions, community facilities and street lighting. Energy 4 Impact is leading on the development of livelihood opportunities arising from increased energy access in refugee camps and host communities. Started in April 2017 the programme will run for 3.5 years.

Improved Cookstoves for Vulnerable Households & Productive Uses in Kenya

In 2021, Energy 4 Impact and EnDev joined forces to enhance access to efficient modern cookstoves for deprived households in the least developed Kenyan counties of Kilifi, Kwale, and Taita Taveta. Coordinated by GIZ and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), EnDev promotes access to modern energy services globally. This collaborative Kenyan cookstove project not only helped reduce harmful domestic air pollution and labour demands for the 6,500 targeted households but also elevated the livelihoods of the 1,200 food enterprises and local artisans producing the cookstoves through mentoring and market development activities.

Strengthening rural livelihoods in Senegal

Energy 4 Impact supported FAO’s Rural Women Livelihoods Enhancement for Sustainable Economic Development Project in the Tambacounda region of Senegal by strengthening the business capacity of producers, especially women entrepreneurs in the banana value chain, and improving access to funding to boost agricultural productivity and market access. This project formed part of the Missing Middle Initiative, launched by the Global Program for Agriculture and Food Security to support smallholder farmer organisations.

De-Risking PAYGO in Uganda Refugee Settlements

Energy 4 Impact supported GPTech to implement this USAID Power Africa’s 18-month project which aimed to accelerate off-grid investment and energy access by incentivising private sector PAYGO solar home system companies to serve customers in Kiryandongo and Rwamwanja refugee settlements and host communities. By providing grants that covered costs associated with their expansion into these locations, the project sought to encourage private companies to view the refugee settlements and host communities as viable markets.

Energise Africa

This programme was an additional component of Crowd Power, driven by the desire to engage the UK public in this space. The investment platform provided an opportunity for the crowd to finance solar home systems purchased on credit by African households, and earn investors interest, while supporting energy access and poverty alleviation. The objective was to build a self-sustaining partnership between platforms and solar businesses in Africa.

Green 4 Access First Loss Facility (G4A)

G4A, a partnership between GreenMax Capital Group and Energy 4 Impact was designed to increase access to renewable, sustainable energy in Africa by offering the risk mitigation provided by first loss cushions for lending to the off-grid sector. Through this modern and inclusive approach to green energy finance, G4A engaged with major development finance institutions and impact investors to support activities such as dependable education, reliable hours for small business owners and customers, regular internet access and more.

Developing productive uses of energy in Senegal

With GIZ funding under its 'Programme Energies Durables' (PED) programme, Energy 4 Impact conducted a series of pilots to test the technical and economic feasibility of solar refrigeration within economic value chains in remote off-grid communities in Senegal. Over an 18-month period, Energy 4 Impact supported 30 local women-owned businesses to invest in solar refrigeration systems, and monitored their performance in view of a possible scale-up.

Solar irrigation in Rwanda (SIR)

Funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), this US$1 million programme sought to enhance the livelihoods of Rwandan smallholder farmers and to improve the country’s food security through market development activities aimed at increasing adoption of small-scale solar irrigation systems. By addressing the challenges of consumer awareness, equipment affordability and by tackling some inefficiencies in the supply chain, SIR directly led to 1,451 smallholder farmers adopting solar irrigation systems.

 

Moving Energy Initiative

Energy 4 Impact led a consortium on this ground-breaking project which tested new approaches to providing energy access and management in humanitarian interventions. Following phase I, focussed on research and evidence-building, phase II looked at new ways of developing sustainable energy solutions camps in Kenya and Burkina Faso and in non-camp setting in Jordan. With funding from the UK aid, the programme aimed to support the widespread adoption of new practices, whether in terms of camp management, service provision, business models and private sector engagement or partnerships with local authorities.

Scaling-up WIRE (Nishati na Wanawake)

This programme sought to build on the success of the multi-year Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) programme and expand its reach to six additional energy-poor rural counties in Kenya and Tanzania. With improved cookstoves at its heart, the expansion, funded by The Adventure Project, helped more women-led enterprises to further develop the market for clean cooking, while also minimising carbon dioxide emissions and creating more jobs.

Ideas 2 Impact

Energy 4 Impact was part of a consortium implementing a five-year programme to support innovation in the development sector. The programme offered a number of prizes to stimulate innovative problem solving around key challenges in energy access, water and sanitation and climate adaptation. Energy 4 Impact was the energy access theme lead on the project team. The programme was funded by UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Green Mini-Grid Market Development Programme

We teamed up with INENSUS, a green mini-grid developer, to deliver an 18-month programme on green mini-grid market development. Financed by the African Development Bank, the programme supported developers on issues ranging from business planning, market development and grid design to project finance, grid operation and maintenance. The main objectives were to accelerate the development cycle of Green Mini-Grid projects and to improve their bankability, create links between market actors in order to address gaps and developer capacities, technology, financing, and contribute to the evidence base of commercially viable projects.

Rural Electrification Densification Programme (REDP) in Tanzania

In partnership with the Rural Energy Agency’s grid densification programme, Energy 4 Impact is providing business development support to local business owners following their first-time connection to the main power grid. The aim of the programme is to stimulate economic development and increase local commercial uptake of electricity through enterprise development support and financing facilities to micro-enterprises wishing to buy electrics tools and appliances. The programme is funded by the Norwegian Government with Multiconsult acting as REA’s Technical Assistance Consultant.

Community-Based Energy Education Programme

Energy 4 Impact and the Tanzania Council for Social Development are testing a community-based energy education programme to increase the uptake of electricity in areas that have recently been electrified by the Government of Tanzania through the Rural Energy Agency (REA). This project is designed to improve the performance of rural electrification projects in areas characterised by low levels of connections and consumption, due to lack of information on requirements, procedures, benefits, costs and usage of electricity to power businesses, education and health infrastructure. Funded by the World Bank, the programme will benefit REA and other utilities involved in rural electrification projects.

Energy Business for Development (EBD)

This $3.23 million programme provided advisory services and capacity building support for energy sector micro, small and medium enterprises, developing productive use activities of newly electrified villages, clean cooking and women’s economic empowerment in Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, and Uganda. EBD was the second phase of the Energy SMEs Programme, financed by the ESME Trust Fund, which was administered by the World Bank. Informed by the experience and lessons learned under the first phase, the EBD programme supported energy sector businesses and project developers to grow the energy markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

WIRE

The Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) multi-year programme aimed to support women energy entrepreneurs in rural Kenya and Tanzania by offering them business and technology training, and help to access financing and market opportunities. With funding from the US Department of State and The Adventure Project we supported women entrepreneurs that produce, manufacture, import, distribute, promote, supply or retail improved cookstoves, briquettes, biogas and solar products, such as lanterns and solar home systems. By September 2018, WIRE had provided 1 million people with access to clean cooking and solar lighting products.

Solar Milling Field Deployment and Research

This 9 month pilot aims to test different business models for rural off-grid solar milling in sub-Saharan Africa using Agsol milling technologies. Funded by UK Aid and managed by CLASP under the Efficiency for Access Coalition, it follows on from a previous market scoping study that mapped out different small to medium scale off-grid solar milling models in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. We are working with rural off-grid mill operators in East Africa to understand the market potential and to share insights with providers of off-grid energy and other off-grid productive use appliance distributors who are considering expanding their services to include solar milling.

Productive and Empowered Women Entrepreneurs in Kigoma

This 12 month project provides women, involved in agricultural processing in Kigoma, one of the most impoverished areas of Tanzania, with technology training to boost their productivity and profitability. It aims to ramp up incomes, create jobs and food security, and build sustainable markets by forging strategic partnerships between women entrepreneurs and equipment suppliers, banks, distributors and consumers. Delivered by Energy 4 Impact and funded by UN Women, the project is part of the Kigoma Joint Programme, a UN initiative that aims to improve development and human security in the region.

Productive and Empowered Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Senegal

Supported by the Swedish Postcode Foundation grant, the Productive and Empowered Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Senegal programme supported 55 women groups and cooperatives, representing over 2,600 women, engaged in farming, dairy production, agro-transformation, shop keeping and weaving in the Tambacounda, Kolda and Thiès regions to improve their productivity, livelihood and income thanks to investments in sustainable energies. By strengthening women businesses skills through finance, marketing, agronomy and technology mentoring, and facilitating investment in productive appliances, the initiative helped women entrepreneurs increase the productivity, resilience, efficiency and viability of their businesses.

Integrating gender issues in energy policies in Senegal

Energy 4 Impact delivered an advocacy and communication programme to influence gender mainstreaming in energy policies and programmes in Senegal. With funding and support from ENERGIA, we advocated for the integration of clear gender objectives and actions within the SE4ALL national action plan and investment prospectus. We also raised awareness of issues related to women’s economic empowerment within the global campaign on Energy, Women, Children & Health.

CARE2

Capital Access for Renewable Energy Enterprises (CARE2) was a four-year, $10.4 million programme targeting the creation of 4,400 new jobs in 1,200 micro, small and medium energy-focussed enterprises, and addressing multiple barriers to growth in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), CARE2 had three components: an Enterprise Support Team which provides business, financing and technology advice to SMEs; a Capital Access programme that provides access to finance; four country projects, targeting defined niches and designed to stimulate the creation and growth of energy businesses in cookstoves, mobile phone charging, briquettes and other markets.

Energy Opportunities for Women in Senegal

Forming part of the ENERGIA’s three-year Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative, funded by the governments of Finland, Norway and Sweden, this programme aimed to improve livelihoods and income in rural areas of Senegal, by supporting 160 women entrepreneurs engaged in both expanding energy access and productive uses.

Power Africa Programme

This programme, in collaboration with NREL and contracted by the US Agency for International Development under the Power Africa’s Beyond the Grid initiative, aimed to provide support to mini-grid developers and public stakeholders operating across sub-Saharan Africa. Energy 4 Impact was selected to be NREL’s partner because of its strong mini-grid project experience and existing developer relationships.

Scaling up Off-Grid Energy in Rwanda (SOGER)

SOGER aims to grow sustainable off-grid renewable energy markets by supporting private sector companies to deliver energy access to an estimated 77,000 people in poor rural areas, and create 7,000 jobs. The Sida funded programme is designed to respond to the country’s challenges and the government priorities with regards to poverty reduction and energy access in rural areas. It involves a facility to support small isolated mini-grid projects, including small and pico hydro projects, providing electricity to rural communities. It also focusses on increasing productivity for small farmers through access to appropriate solar powered irrigation systems.

PUE on DEVERGY micro grids in rural Tanzania

With funding from the Mott Foundation, we are implemented a project seeking to address the complexity of designing and implementing strategies for developing micro-enterprises that use energy produced by small solar energy micro-grid companies operating in Tanzania.

Jumeme

A mini-grid demonstration project aimed to connect nearly a thousand households and 350 businesses. The project, implemented in partnership with private energy businesses INENSUS, Terra Projects and St. Augustine University of Tanzania, saw Energy 4 Impact play a key role in developing productive use demand. The project was funded under the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme of Southern and East Africa (EEP S&EA) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland (lead donor), UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

Developing Energy Enterprises Project (DEEP)

A five-year small and micro-enterprise development programme in East Africa, funded by the EU and the Netherlands governments. By supporting 950 entrepreneurs engaged in solar PV products and services, clean cookstoves, briquettes and biogas, more than four million people were provided with improved access to energy products and services, and jobs were created for 4,400 people. The total funding for this was €4 million, demonstrating significant impact per dollar of donor support.

Energy SME Programme (ESME)

A five-country programme funded by the Russian government through the World Bank. We supported businesses involved in productive use applications for energy, small hydro project development, clean cookstoves and solar product distribution in East and West Africa, through various forms of grant funding and advisory services on technical, financial and operational issues.

Indigo solar lighting: PAYG with Azuri Technologies

Through this USAID-funded $1million programme we supported both Azuri and its in-country distributors to deploy 10,000 solar home systems in Rwanda in a sustainable and self-financing way. The aim for the project was to provide a template for future deployment of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar systems in other countries.

Spark Fund

This initiative aimed to improve the performance and quality of locally manufactured efficient cookstoves in Kenya. To achieve that, Energy 4 Impact worked with high-potential cookstove businesses to improve their technical, product design and manufacturing capacity and practices. A seed fund was also established to provide capital for these companies to expand their activities.

IDEAS2

The Energy Innovation Contest Ideas2, focused on innovative projects and ideas promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and access to energy in the Caribbean. The winning ideas included a biogas system using waste from hotels and farms in Jamaica; an affordable solar power and micro-financing model bringing energy to remote communities in Suriname; and a gasifier, which drives a 20kW turbine supplying electricity for a micro-grid in Haiti.

Nyundo Project

With an OFID grant worth about $500,000, this project aimed at increasing sustainable electricity output in Rwanda by constructing an on-grid plant capable of injecting 3MW to the national grid.

TASF

The Transaction Advisory Services Facility was part of IFC’s Tanzanian Mini-grid Programme, managed in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, which was funded through the Scaling Renewable Energy Programme (SREP). In collaboration with Tanzanian and international partners, Energy 4 Impact assisted private mini-grid developers in designing, developing, implementing and scaling of individual green mini-grid projects in the country.

SEED Fund project

Energy 4 Impact has provided business advisory and investment-readiness services to enterprises in Kenya and Tanzania that were selected as winners by the SEED initiative.

Kenya Climate Innovation Center

A business incubation services to climate technology start-ups providing proof of concept grants and help for companies to access investment capital, business advice, access to information, workshops, laboratories and office facilities. Benefiting from a $4.5 million World Bank grant of operational funding for four years (2012-2016), as well as $4.9 million of investment capital channelled through the Kenya Climate Venture Facility, the KCIC supported 135 enterprises in the energy access, water and sanitation and agricultural sector in Kenya. Energy 4 Impact, Strathmore University, KIRDI and PWC are the four consortium partners that helped set up KCIC. Danida provided grant financing to extend its operations to 2020.