As Shell Foundation seeks to empower 14 million women to earn a living income by 2032, it is critical that we look at productive use of energy and innovative financing mechanisms that are gender intentional and geared towards positive gender outcomes. Gender gaps A new report from CrossBoundary Advisory and Odyssey, funded by Shell…
Supporting early-stage innovators to develop income-generating energy technologies is at the core of Shell Foundation’s strategy. Alongside the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, through the TIME partnership, we have been supporting VentureBuilder since 2019. Benefits of in country knowledge VentureBuilder looks to support African-owned and managed off-grid solar distribution businesses. These enterprises know their…
It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, women spend three times longer than men on daily household tasks such as cooking. This gives them little time to spend on paid work or education. These women, if empowered, could really make a difference to their local communities, but instead seem destined to spend most of their…
Our six-year Scaling Energy Access Markets in Africa (SEAM) partnership with The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Power Africa met its objectives and came to its natural conclusion in October. SEAM improved the lives of more than 15 million underserved people in Africa, delivered over 3.1 million new connections, leveraged $441 million of…
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…
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…
Today we launch our latest research at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, looking at what is needed to deliver a low-carbon universal energy access in three key markets – Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda – and highlighting potentially disruptive ‘game-changers’ for each market. The country deep dives represent the third phase of the research, conducted by…
KEY FACTS Over a million energy efficient stoves sold, saving >8m tonnes of CO2 emissions and >4.5m tonnes of wood Impacted over 6 million lives and generated more than $350m in household savings with an NPS of 98% Created local employment for 400+ people since 2013 Founded in 2011, BURN is a vertically integrated modern…
SureChill recently concluded a successful sales pilot of off-grid domestic refrigerators with interesting insights into key triggers and barriers to purchasing decisions. SureChill was founded in 2009 to commercialise a newly patented thermal energy storage technology deemed capable of bringing reliable refrigeration to off-grid and unreliable grid communities. Having initially focused on developing and marketing…
Successful and inclusive rural economic development needs to be built on long-term understanding of and engagement with rural households. New research, Understanding Rural Pathway Transitions, developed by Shell Foundation (SF) and MasterCard Foundation’s Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (RAFLL), with support from The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – provides a structure…