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New partnership with Seedstars announced to support African-led start-ups

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Shell Foundation recently partnered with Seedstars to look for sustainable, scalable and innovative start-ups addressing universal access to energy-related challenges, as well as sustainable agriculture, mobility and transportation. With co-funding from UKAID, we have launched the Energy, Mobility and Agriculture Innovation Program to find African tech entrepreneurs in the mobility, transportation, energy, and agriculture space…

CrossBoundary Energy Access open source its mini-grid financing approach

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CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA), the blended finance facility for mini-grids, has open sourced their approach to investing infrastructure capital across Africa. Shell Foundation supported the establishment of CBEA in 2018 alongside Rockefeller Foundation and with co-funding from UK Aid. CBEA invests blended capital directly into mini-grid projects serving rural African households and businesses. The business…

MAX.ng issues $1m innovative local currency bond to drive growth

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Nigerian mobility provider MAX.ng has raised NGN400 million (US$1 million) in capital with an innovative bond issue, the first of its kind for the mobility sector in Africa. The bond – comprising one-year fixed interest notes – is managed by DLM Advisory (DLM), a Nigeria-based, regulated full-service developmental investment bank and is the first offering…

How gender impacts agricultural insurance decision making in emerging markets

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Pula, which provides accessible, scalable insurance solutions for smallholder farmers by bundling insurance with the inputs farmers already use including seeds and fertiliser, has produced a new learning report exploring how gender plays a role in registration decisions in East and Southern Africa. The report, co-funded by Shell Foundation and the UK government, uses Pula’s…

SafeBoda delivers contraceptives during lockdown

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The BBC recently featured a video about Shell Foundation’s partner SafeBoda’s partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA*) to provide contraception to those in need in Uganda. More than 760 million people globally live in extreme poverty and sexual and reproductive health problems are a leading cause of death and disability for women in the developing world. Young people especially carry…

VentureBuilder makes first investment in local-run company in Mali

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SF partner VentureBuilder recently led an investment round that enabled an off-grid solar company to secure financing of more than US$1 million in Mali. The investment represents VentureBuilder’s first investment since being established, with funding from SF, USAID and DOEN Foundation, to support locally-owned and managed energy enterprises with early-stage equity financing and enterprise development…

AMDA: Benchmarking Africa’s mini-grids

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The African Mini-Grid Developers Association, co-created by SF in 2018, has released its first major publication, ‘Benchmarking Africa’s Mini-Grids’, which uses coordinated sector data to provide a detailed overview of the sector in Africa. “With this report, we’re opening the door to a new era in the mini-grid sector,” said Aaron Leopold, AMDA’s CEO. “Transparency…

How SafeBoda used partnerships to provide essential services

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Covid-19 lockdowns have caused a significant reduction in public transportation services to stop the spread of the virus, presenting a huge challenge for those whose business relies on supplying affordable and safe mobility services. Shell Foundation has supported SafeBoda since 2015. Modernising informal travel in East Africa, the ride hailing app brings together a community…

How SMV is leading the charge for e-vehicles in India

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Founded in 2015, SMV Green Solutions (SMV) has been pioneering the growth of the e-rickshaw sector in India, enabling sustainable development outcomes for low income communities, women and the environment, as well as demonstrating the business case to accelerate EV adoption beyond metropolitan cities. This new learning report looks at how, with SF and UK…

GroFin’s response to Covid-19

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Shell Foundation are proud of the diverse ways in which our partners have stepped up during this crisis. In its recent newsletter, SF’s long-standing partner GroFin outlined a number of initiatives they have initiated to help their SME clients during Covid-19. These initiatives include: Developed a Covid-19 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework drawing on international…