Seeking proposals for new health electrification finance mechanisms

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Shell Foundation is seeking applications to fund health electrification projects via targeted financing mechanisms as part of a new pilot programme. As mini-grid companies, development finance institutions, health organisations, and non-profits announce initiatives to support the electrification of COVID-19 health facilities, a key challenge remains to strike a balance between rapid deployment and the long-term…

DFC & SF Launch New Collaboration to Accelerate Access to Renewable Energy & Gender Inclusion

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WASHINGTON – The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Shell Foundation (the UK-registered charity) yesterday announced a new collaboration to bring affordable renewable energy to more than 5 million people in low-income areas of Africa and Asia by 2025. The organizations recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding that enhances their ability to support the…

Can productive agricultural activities strengthen the commercial performance of community mini-grids?

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With the support of Shell Foundation and the UK Government’s FCDO Agricultural Research arm through the CASEE programme, Factor[e] Ventures has been building a world-leading portfolio of impact ventures at the ag-energy nexus while simultaneously developing key insights to move innovation at this intersection forward. In 2019-20, Factor[e] developed a programme of demonstration projects with…

Keep IT Cool

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KEY FACTS Signed up over 250 white meat merchants as agents (butcheries and restaurants) during 2021 Signed off-taker agreements with four fisherfolk cooperatives with over 2000 fisherfolk Ranked in the top 20 African early stage Start-Ups by the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) Keep IT Cool provides affordable, reliable and efficient cold chain solutions to…

Demonstrating the potential of biogas to contribute to the SDGs

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How can the direct impacts of biogas support the achievement of the SDGs? How does this impact vary between different market segments? A new report – commissioned by Shell Foundation with co-funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office – analyses the contribution of biogas towards SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)…

How has VentureBuilder grown its investment pipeline during Covid-19?

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VentureBuilder has produced two learning papers outlining how they have continued to build an investment pipeline of locally owned and managed African off-grid operators, by refining its sourcing model and build operator resilience by adapting its business support offerings.       Shell Foundation has supported VentureBuilder (VB) since 2019 with co-funding from USAID and…

A Pathways Approach to Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on Rural Households

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As the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues to unfold, rural households are among those most impacted. This learning brief  — commissioned by SF with co-funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office and  the Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (RAFLL) — examines actual impacts of Covid-19 on rural households in…

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…

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…

Pula

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Key Facts Served almost 5 million farmers with insurance and digital service across sub-Saharan Africa since 2015 Work with 40 insurers and eight reinsurers Developed yield datasets of 100k+ data points and adding roughly 30K annually Insurance products across >20 food and cash crops, as well as livestock Pula is reimagining agriculture insurance for smallholder…