Portfolio Learning

Off-grid energy country focus: Uganda

African man climbing a wooden pole
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In 2017, Shell Foundation and Open Capital Advisors came together to pilot a new approach to accelerate energy access in Uganda.

With support from local the UK Government and USAID, and the Government of Uganda, the result is a dedicated and neutral intermediary that provides balanced data and advice to enterprises, investors and policy-makers; coordinates resources to tackle major market barriers such as awareness, affordability and energy for productive use; and catalyses interventions where necessary.
As part of this work, the Ugandan Accelerator has launched two reports to help identify barriers to growth in off-grid energy access in Uganda, recommend appropriate actions to overcome them, and signal opportunities for investment and innovation.

Mapping the Market

The Ugandan Off-Grid Energy Market Accelerator has mapped current activities to enhance energy access across the industry by private sector players, donors, development organisations and other stakeholders – and identifies challenges and opportunities to enhance the collective impact from this work.

Productive Use

This second report deep dives into productive use technologies and demonstrates the potential value these offer to advance the off-grid space via consolidated effort from the relevant stakeholders.
Emerging technologies in the irrigation, fishing, dairy, grains, oil seeds and coffee industry are evaluated for their potential to scale, and recommendations made on ways in which public and private actors can support their adoption.

 

This effort is part of a wider collaboration under the Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development.

About Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development

The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development (SOGE) is a global partnership founded by the US Agency for International Development, Power Africa, the UK Government, the African Development Bank and Shell Foundation. SOGE works to accelerate growth in the off-grid energy market to provide 20 million households in sub-Saharan Africa with access to modern, clean, and affordable energy.