As part of our continued strive to discover innovative technologies and business models that bring improved energy access, we have recently supported Bboxx – alongside our co-funding partner the UK Government – to launch a new payment platform that allows Rwandans to ‘send energy home’ from anywhere in the world. Friends and family can use…
Today, the World Resources Institute (WRI) – an SF strategic partner since 2002 – launched Energy Access Explorer, a new open-source platform, leverages satellite imagery combined with 20 local data sets to visualise energy supply and demand in East Africa. More than 800 million people around the world lack reliable electricity; nearly 600 million of them…
SF partner and fintech finance company Lendable has recently hit $30m in money disbursed to non-bank lending companies across frontier markets. Lendable’s financing has supported the growth of SMEs and productive asset, consumer and PAYG solar finance companies across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana since 2016. Through these investments, Lendable has financed over 200,000 individual…
The Uganda Off-Grid Market Accelerator, which we co-created in partnership with Open Capital Advisors in 2017 with joint funding from the UK Government and USAID, has released its 2019 edition of the Uganda off-grid energy Market Map. The third annual edition is the largest mapping of the Uganda off-grid ecosystem yet, and includes separate editions…
GroFin’s Impact Report 2019 demonstrates the impact investment fund managers’ continued success supporting SGBs (Small and Growing Businesses) serving low-income communities in Africa and the Middle East. Shell Foundation partnered with GroFin in 2004 to co-create an innovative integrated solution business model that catalysed SGBs, who represent a significant source of employment and economic growth…
SF partner and pioneering private development finance institution GroFin, has won a Gold Award in the Financial Services (SME Development) category Ghana-Africa Business Awards after winning the same award in 2015. The award was given in recognition of GroFin’s outstanding contribution to the development of Ghana. As well as this, GroFin won the Outstanding Healthcare…
SF partner Smart Freight Centre (SFC) and the Global Logistic Emissions Council (GLEC) today released an updated method – the GLEC Framework – to calculate the carbon footprint of freight transport. The updated GLEC Framework is designed to be easy for companies to implement, with clear calculation steps, guidance on reporting and target setting. This…
SF partners Sistema.bio and SMV Green have both been recognised by the prestigious Ashden Awards 2019. Sistema.bio was presented with the Clean Cooking Award for its work to bring clean biogas to farmers in Latin America, Africa and India. Its innovative and affordable biogas system turns animal waste into clean and odourless cooking fuel whilst producing…
By GroFin Managers, 24 June 2019 From mobile money to blockchain and data analytics, fintech is not only disrupting the way corporate financial institutions operate, it also presents far-reaching opportunities for social enterprises and development finance institutions to strengthen their impact and efficiency. Shell Foundation (SF) supports innovators to test new technology and enterprise models…
The Uganda Off-Grid Energy Market Accelerator (UOMA) is a neutral intermediary focused on accelerating the growth of off-grid energy access in Uganda to enable universal energy access. SF co-created UOMA in 2017 in partnership with USAID, Power Africa and the UK Government, to be implemented by Open Capital Advisors, a management consultancy headquartered in Nairobi,…