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…
Since 2020, Shell Foundation in partnership with USAID and UK FCDO has supported Jaza Energy to develop affordable energy products for low-income households in Tanzania, where – like many other African countries – around 50% of the population currently live on less than $2/day. Jaza has built solar battery retail locations providing meaningful employment to…
Rural households in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) working in the agriculture sector feed much of the world, bear little responsibility for driving climate change, and are being disproportionately impacted by climate-related shocks. Climate finance represents a critical opportunity to bring investment and innovations to agricultural settings to improve resilience and drive new and more…
Clean, safe, and affordable energy is crucial to empowering communities and improving the lives of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Increasing access to finance for decentralised renewable energy solutions will enable homes, hospitals and schools to be supplied with reliable sources of electricity. The D-REC Initiative is a multi-stakeholder platform launched…
CrossBoundary Energy’sInnovation Lab has published a report on the impact of grain mills and fridges on mini-grid profitability, the latest in a series of insight papers testing business model innovations for the sector. The Innovation Lab is the first research and development fund exclusively focused on testing new business model innovations for mini grids. The…
Over the course of Shell Foundation’s work supporting innovative start-ups working in emerging markets, we have seen market-level challenges that have the potential to inhibit the development and scaling potential of new solutions that cannot be solved by single enterprises alone. Since 2010 we’ve supported the establishment of institutions that work to address these challenges…
Agriculture and energy are high on the development agenda. They are critical in driving the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by supporting food security, enabling value addition and reducing poverty. Agriculture and energy are also closely linked to climate change and part of the solution. The African agribusiness sector could reach US$1 trillion…