In 2018, we published A Business-First Approach to Gender Inclusion, which presented the opportunity that holistic gender inclusion represented for small businesses and investors operating in the clean energy sector. The report showed clear business performance improvements when a gender-lens is applied to areas including sales, marketing, market research, customer service and hiring. Four years…
PayGo Energy provides a pay-as-you-go LPG service to low-income customers in Kenya, the DRC and the Philippines. Co-funded by UK aid from the UK Government and in partnership with portfolio partner PayGo Energy, The Busara Centre conducted research examining the impact of PayGo energy on its customers in Kenya. Adopting a mixed method approach, the…
Interest in harnessing business potential in Africa is growing year-on-year. The total amount of venture capital (VC) investment on the continent grew to between US$4.3 billion and US$5 billion in 2021, a 16-fold increase from 2017. However, the distribution of the funding is uneven. The landscape of start-ups successfully accessing funding is dominated by non-African…
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the lowest energy access rates in the world, leaving roughly 600 million people without power. SF partner Aceleron – co-funded with UK aid from the UK government and supported by Tripleline – has produced a report showing how lithium battery technology can play a critical role in reducing this deficit and…
Four new impact case studies from Inficold highlight how various cold chain products can deliver higher incomes for farmers and agribusinesses across several value chains. Agriculture in the Indian Context We have supported Inficold since 2016, as part of our CASEE programme with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), to develop its…
Sustainable food processing provides an untapped opportunity for social investors to combat the daily ~$19.4 million post-harvest crop loss in India. India’s food processing sector is significantly hampered by efficiency challenges, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, up to 40% of smallholder farmers’ total produce results in post-harvest loss. SF partner S4S Technologies has…
Many people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) earn their living as smallholder farmers – providing food for their families and produce to sell on. However, lack of cold storage means that crops can become inedible within a short time, contributing to large amounts of food waste and minimising smallholder farmers’ earnings from their hard work. With…
In 2020, Shell Foundation initiated a six-month wi-fi pilot, co-funded with UK Aid from the UK government, in three regions of Nigeria. Free internet access was provided through 50 selected locations to potential Swifta customers in peri-urban and rural areas. Swifta Systems is a professional technology company focused on IT services and fintech. OmniBranches (one…
Many Kenyans make their living via the fish value chain, but its growth potential is limited by high post-harvest losses caused in a large part by lack of food cold chain infrastructure, which is in turn constrained by a limited access to energy. Shell Foundation has supported KeepITCool (KIC) – a social enterprise that facilitates…
Our experience working with access-to-energy (A2E) and sustainable mobility (SM) start-ups in Africa has shown a market gap where lack of access to early-stage support constrains access to funding for African-led start-ups in the sectors. Effective mentorship has been shown to increase the chances of start-up success by up to three times. Co-funded by UK…