The Energy Talk - Storytellers of Africa's Energy Transition

In this episode, we explore SolarAid's visionary work under CEO John Keane, aiming to deliver sustainable energy solutions to remote African communities. Focused on last mile areas, SolarAid's unique model tackles energy poverty while empowering communities with clean, affordable energy access. Through innovation and strategic partnerships, SolarAid is reshaping energy accessibility in Africa, paving the way for a brighter, more sustainable future continent-wide.

In this episode, we speak to Mojola Ola, a Nigerian-based energy entrepreneur about how his company, GridCrux, is channeling its core ethos of value-add to democratize energy access for thousands of Nigerians. We delve into his roots, entrepreneurial journey, innovations, and failures in a bid to uncover what it takes to thrive as an energy entreprenueur in Africa's largest market.

Doing business in Nigeria is often fraught with challenges, especially on an operational scale amidst business models that involve cross-border transactions. In this episode, we speak to Justin Tinsey, the Vice President of Procurement, about Odyssey Energy Solution's innovative framework to de-risking procurement through its partnerships and systems, as well as financing through its DART and better payment programs.

Climate venture building is a concept that is not very common within sub-Saharan Africa. In this episode, we interview Tobias and Wairimu from Persistent Energy, a company deploying "persistent" financial and human resource capital to result in climate impact along energy, agriculture, mobility, and the circular economy. We talk about Persistent's venture building model, investment ethos, recent exits, as well as its role as a fund advisor to other investment entities.

In the eighth and final episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Henok Assefa - Founder and Managing Partner at PRECISE, and Dr. Paul Yillia - COO and Technical Advisor, TENN to find out how policy design and finance go hand-hand in ensuring that farmers in rural communities can afford their energy needs for their agricultural production.

In the seventh episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Anshul Ojha - Founder and Principal anchor for the Desert Resource Center, and Ralph Roothaert - Principal Investigator – Veggies 4 Planet & People (V4P&P) Project and Country Director – of Kenya Eastern and Southern Africa (World Vegetable Center).

In this episode, we discuss the intricacies of the landmark $10M partnership between Crossboundary Access (CBA) and Mobile Power–a partnership that promises to unlock energy access for over 300,000 people within Nigeria.

In the sixth episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Nirmita Chandrashekar a licensed architect and Senior Program Manager with SELCO Foundation in India, and Bijal Brahmbatt from the Mahila Housing Trust or MHT, a non-profit that was selected as a Women Changemakers India Fellow by Womanity Foundation. In this episode, we will focus on delivering cost-effective renewable energy-based solutions for cooling in India's most underserved communities.

In the fifth episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we continue our conversation from the last episode of the series joined by Shweta Narayan from the India-based NGO "Health Care Without Harm", and Shri Ram Kumar S, IAS - Project Director of the Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project (MEGHSSP).

Donor-funded catalytic capital has been an integral part of the growth of the off-grid energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa by de-risking new technologies and business models. David Arinze joins us in this episode to discuss the ecosystem impact and growth of projects funded by catalytic capital and how it is allowing organizations to scale enough to attract commercial capital.