The GoodStock Tapes Podcast

600 million people in Africa still live without electricity and the bottleneck isn't technology, it's finance. Ray Coyle, CEO of Energise Africa, explains how UK retail capital is being connected to solar, mini-grids and clean transport and why honest impact investing must talk about currency shocks, climate disruption, and what "appropriate risk" really means.

Energy poverty is one of the most underestimated constraints on human and economic development and one of the clearest tests of whether sustainable finance is serious about outcomes. In this episode of The GoodStock Tapes, we're joined by Ray Coyle, CEO of Energise Africa, to explore what impact investing looks like when it moves beyond ESG labels and into real-world infrastructure.

Ray shares the origin story of Energise Africa: a UK government-backed idea (now under the FCDO umbrella) designed to give ordinary people in the UK a way to help fund energy access in sub-Saharan Africa.

We also go on the ground. What does "no electricity" actually mean for education after dark, safer streets, business productivity, health, and dignity? And what does a credible solution set look like, solar home systems, green mini-grids, battery storage, and electric mobility (including the economics of electric motorbikes for boda boda riders)?

Crucially, this conversation doesn't pretend impact is risk-free. Ray talks candidly about where risk sits (issuer risk), the reality of operating shocks, climate disruption, and currency devaluation and why transparency matters when advisers discuss suitability. We also cover how these investments are typically structured, including targeted returns (often 6–8%) and common terms (from six months to three years), and where wrappers like an Innovative Finance ISA may apply.

If you're an adviser, investor, or anyone curious about purpose-driven capital that actually builds things, this episode offers a grounded lens on how capital allocation can widen access to the basics, without hiding the trade-offs.

Listen now and if it sparks a new question about what "ethical investing" should prioritise, share it with someone who cares about finance as a force for good. About Ray

Ray Coyle is the CEO of Energise Africa, a crowdfunding direct investment platform focused on expanding clean energy access across sub-Saharan Africa. Ray's work sits at the intersection of sustainable finance, impact investing and real-economy infrastructure—connecting retail investors to businesses and projects delivering practical solutions such as solar home systems, decentralised mini-grids and clean transport.

What if the most responsible use of wealth isn't to preserve it indefinitely, but to deploy it, urgently, while it can still change outcomes? Julia Davies unpacks the "power of enough", why she rejected slow endowment-style giving, and how impact investing (from community energy to philanthropic loans for land restoration) can be practical, not performative.

In this episode of The GoodStock Tapes, Clémence Chatelin is joined by Julia Davies, a former commercial lawyer and entrepreneur who became an environmental investor after selling Osprey Europe. Julia describes the disorienting "lottery win" feeling of a liquidity event and the surprising discovery that more spending doesn't necessarily mean a better life. Instead, she began asking a sharper question: what is money actually for, and what is it trying to protect?

This conversation goes beyond the usual ESG talking points. Julia shares why she found much of mainstream "impact" investing too focused on avoiding harm (exclusions and labels) rather than increasing the likelihood of real-world outcomes. We explore her practical approach to deploying capital across different "pots" of money, each with its own purpose, timeframe, risk tolerance and expectation of return.

A key tension is the traditional endowment mindset: invest the capital, protect it forever, and donate slowly from the income. Julia makes a provocative case for urgency. With climate, biodiversity loss, pollution and resource extraction compounding, she argues that slow giving can become a comforting default rather than an honest response to the timescale we're in. About Julia

Julia Davies is an entrepreneur-turned-impact investor and advocate for using capital in service of tangible social and ecological outcomes. Originally trained as a commercial lawyer, she spent years supporting charities—first in-house at the RSPCA and later through her own legal practice advising charitable organisations.

Julia also co-founded Osprey Europe, the European distributor of Osprey backpacks and travel bags, helping grow the business from an early-stage venture into a successful operation. After the company was sold, she began a focused learning journey into ethical and impact investing, starting with limited formal investment experience, but a clear ethical compass and a strong sense of urgency about climate and biodiversity.

Today, Julia deploys capital across charitable giving, impact investing and philanthropic loans designed to help wildlife trusts and community organisations purchase land and restore nature. She is also a member of Patriotic Millionaires, highlighting how extreme inequality undermines social stability and why building a safer future involves both private action and properly funded public systems.