For smallholder farmers in emerging markets, access to products, finance and information is vital to improving their yields and income, allowing them to climb the energy ladder. Apollo Agriculture, who we have supported since 2018 with co-funding from the UK government, uses remote sensing, data science, and agronomic machine learning to help Kenyan farmers, backed…
KEY FACTS Part of Balton CP group with operating entities across eight African countries in east, west and southern Africa Track record of over 50 years innovating in the Kenyan agriculture sector Piloted 100+ credit sales to small scale farmers and SME agribusinesses in 2019-2020 Amiran brings to Kenya the products of leading and innovative…
In 2019 Shell Foundation and the UK Government provided funding and support to Amiran, a leading East African agricultural distributor, so that they could test a new approach to providing appropriate credit to agricultural Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya. Agricultural SMEs across Kenya are unable to obtain the financing they need to invest in their…
Shell Foundation partner SunCulture was recently selected to demonstrate its technology at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London. The summit was hosted by the UK Government, and brought together heads of state from across Africa to encourage investment across the continent. SunCulture exhibited its industry-leading solar-powered irrigation system, the RainMaker2, in front of political leaders…
Inclusion of women in the energy value chain, from product distribution to sales, market research to behaviour change, needs significant engagement at a local level yet can have a catalytic impact in the community. In the latest learning to come out of our POWERED (Promotion of Women in Energy Related Enterprises for Development) Programme in…
Shell Foundation and the UK Government launched the POWERED (Promotion of Women in Energy Related Enterprises for Development) Programme in 2018 to promote gender inclusion in the Indian energy development sector by creating jobs, supporting women-led businesses and undertaking research on the sector. SF and the UK Government commissioned the International Center for Research on…
Press Release: Announcing the launch of the US$120 million Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund to provide affordable access to energy for homes and businesses Amsterdam, Netherlands – December 5, 2019 Shell Foundation, a UK-registered charity, together with FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, announces the launch of the US$120 million Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF), with…
It is estimated that US$800 million in debt will need to be invested in solar home system (SHS) businesses in Uganda to achieve universal energy access (SDG7). For the long-term sustainability of the off-grid solar sector, there is a need for local banks and financial institutions to recognise this opportunity and play a central role in…
Until 2016, product sales of solar lamps in Nigeria were mostly limited to urban and peri-urban consumers that purchased products outright, without consumer financing. This contrasted with East Africa, where the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model was well on its way to scale. In this context, between early 2017 and early 2019, SF supported – alongside the…
It’s possible to “design things right” and yet not “design the right things”. In a short report, M-KOPA Labs shares lessons learnt from developing its solar-powered PAYG Fridge and how its customers helped M-KOPA Labs to get the product “right”. Download the full report Everyone wants a fridge, right? Market surveys regularly record refrigerators in the…