Smart Villages is pleased to announce Nafa Naana as the winner of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa. Nafa Naana is a social business that improves access to clean and efficient energy solutions through a microfranchised distribution network and microfinance services in Burkina Faso. Nafa Naana develops marketing and financial solutions to strengthen distribution …
African Energy Week workshop identifies other barriers and opportunities for achieving 2030 access targets in high-impact region Abidjan: With a high percentage of the West African population living in remote rural areas, clean energy-powered mini-grids (CMEGs) have been identified as an essential tool for achieving universal energy access. An ambitious target of building 128,000 in …
Integrated ministerial strategy and micro-grid financing are other key issues identified by first global study of rural off-grid communities Bangkok: Delegates to the Smart Villages Initiative Closing Workshop for South and Southeast Asia in Bangkok March 7-9 agreed that a bottom-up approach involving villagers themselves is essential to catalyse energy access and spread its resultant …
PUNTA CANA: At an international workshop organised by the Smart Villages Initiative and the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic there was unanimous agreement on the potential of renewable energy in its various forms—solar, wind, biomass and mini-hydro—to play a major role in both rural development and enhancing the climatic resilience of off-grid communities …
At an international workshop organised by the Smart Villages Initiative and the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic delegates will discuss how renewable energy can play a major role in both rural development and enhancing the climatic resilience of off-grid communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. Opened by Vice Minister Ernesto Villa …
Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa. Building on the success of annual East African competitions in collaboration with the Cambridge Development Initiative, this inaugural West African competition challenges entrepreneurs to tell us how they want to grow their existing businesses. Winners will work with consultant …
Smart Villages launches the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa Read More »
Smart Villages is pleased to announce SUJA Eco-Energy Company as the winners of the 2016 Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge for East Africa. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition, in collaboration with the Cambridge Development Initiative, included an even broader range of partners and sponsors. Each of the three off-grid energy teams were …
Smart Villages announces winners in the 2016 Energy Innovation Challenge for East Africa Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative has today published a Technical Report analysing baseline data from the remote off-grid Rwandan village of Rubagabaga. The findings comprise the first part of an impact evaluation study exploring the relationship between modern energy access, its productive use, and rural development outcomes. The report furthers efforts to establish and finance development …
Analysis of Rwandan village reveals a uniquely detailed picture of energy poverty Read More »
Smart Villages today announces finalists in the second annual Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition challenged aspiring young East African entrepreneurs to come up with an idea for a social business powered by off-grid energy. Social businesses are financially sustainable and also deliver positive social impacts to the …
No one left behind: Will energy access alone end poverty? A European Development Days debate with rural leaders, the private sector, and scientists On 15 June 2016, an interactive debate, “Will energy access alone end poverty?: A debate with rural leaders, the private sector and scientists” will be held during European Development Days at Tour …
No one left behind: Will energy access alone end poverty? Read More »
More than a billion people worldwide still lack access to basic electrical services. As policy makers, entrepreneurs and academics work to address a UN goal of sustainable energy for all by 2030, there is a growing interest in off-grid solutions. However, the various options – pico-solar lanterns, solar home systems, or larger solar, wind, or …
[:en]Key Points: Off-grid technology can catalyse sustainable development for even the 1.1 billion without electricity in the remotest “last mile” communities Bottom-up approach key to achieving SDG7 Energy Access for All Goal Hub and spoke models combining hybrid mini-grids and solar home systems can provide starting point Governments need to create integrated off-grid and grid …
[:en]On the stage of the Lighting a Billion Lives Convention in Delhi India, Smart Villages has announced Naturetech Infra as the winner of the Smart Villages Off-grid Energy Impact Competition for India. Applications from off-grid energy entrepreneurs across the nation were assessed on impact, level of project development, sustainability, innovation and replicability. Naturetech Infra was …
[:en]Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the second annual Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition challenges aspiring young East African entrepreneurs to come up with an idea for a social business powered by off-grid energy. Social businesses deliver positive social impacts to the end user …
[:en]The Smart Villages Initiative is pleased to announce three finalists in the Off-grid Energy Impact Competition for India. Energy entrepreneurs from across the nation entered this competition, designed to highlight cases where access to energy has acted as a catalyst for development in rural Indian villages. Entrepreneurs play a key role in increasing energy access …
The Smart Villages Initiative publishes policy brief showing that off-grid renewable energy and technology leapfrogging can catalyse sustainable development in world’s remotest and poorest regions On the eve of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York, the Smart Villages Initiative has urged delegates to keep in mind the plight of remote off-grid communities, …
Can new SDGs really impact last mile communities? Read More »
Opinion pieces from experts tackling the idea of energy as a catalyst for sustainable development – health, food security, education gender equality, governance, security and employment. Smart Villages: New Thinking for off-grid communities worldwide comprises 16 essays written by scientists and leading thinkers from around the world. 1.3 billion people worldwide still lack access to …
Book of collected essays from world experts released Read More »
Project aims to provide rationale for wider investment in last mile communities throughout the developing world as new Sustainable Development Goals come into operation The Smart Villages Initiative today announced that it has completed the first phase of a specially designed study to quantify and understand the impact of sustainable modern energy access on rural …
Smart Villages and Practical Action Consulting off-grid village energy workshop in Nepal highlights key role of mini-hydro schemes In the latest of a series of workshops across the SE Asia region, the Smart Villages Initiative and Practical Action Consulting brought together a diverse cross-section of participants in the Nepali off-grid energy sector. The Smart Villages …
Off-grid village energy workshop in Nepal highlights key role of mini-hydro schemes Read More »
The Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge, launching today, challenges young East African entrepreneurs to form teams and come up with imaginative ways of distributing or implementing novel or existing energy technologies for off-grid villages. Each team should include one engineer or scientist. The teams with the best entries will win a spot in the Cambridge …