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Innovator Spotlight Series: Empowering small businesses and urban residents with portable energy solutions  

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In this blog, we highlight two innovative companies using portable energy solutions to address energy access and reliability challenges in Africa. It showcases how these solutions empower entrepreneurs, drive economic growth, and positively impact the environment. 

Piloting Digital Innovations in the Water Sector: Overcoming hurdles with Imagine H2O and the GSMA

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This blog was co-written by Kelly Trott, Mayci Hicks, and Taylor Evans from Imagine H2O and Zach White and George Kibala Bauer from the GSMA. Imagine H2O and the GSMA are two of the four of this year’s Work Water Week Key Collaborating Partners. We’ve welcomed the ...

Success in partnership and planning: Sanivation’s evolving circular sanitation model in Kenya

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This blog is a result of conversations with Sanivation’s team in Kenya. We’re extremely thankful to Effie Akinyi (Project Development Lead), Shadrack Omwenga (Project Development Manager), Kelvin Waweru (Partnerships Lead), and Dickson Ochieng (Director, Government ...

Join the GSMA Digital Utilities team at World Water Week 2023

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This year’s World Water Week theme is, ‘ Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World’, and the Digital Utilities Programme have been working with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) as a key collaborating partner in organising the ...

Digital Innovation for Inclusive WASH: Takeaways from Kenya’s 2023 Water and Sanitation Conference 

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The GSMA Digital Utilities programme was part of the Kenya Water & Sanitation International Conference & Exhibition 2023, held in the vibrant city of Mombasa. The event brought together a diverse array of stakeholders, including government representatives, ...

Profiling Start-up Public Sector Partnerships for Improved Utility Services in APAC

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Asia is set to account for around 70% of global economic growth in 2023. The region is dominated by emerging and developing economies, and at $31 trillion, produces over a third of the world’s GDP. By 2030, Asia will add another circa $15 trillion to ...

IoT and Digital Payments: A game changer for results-based financing? 

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We would like to thank Susan Smith, VP Finance Solution, Public Sector at Odyssey, for her input on this blog. Results-based financing (RBF) is a development financing and public policy approach that seeks to link payments to the achievement of specific results or ...

What’s going on with transport tech start-up financing in Africa?

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As part of the analysis for our recently released report, ‘Powering Mobility: The Rise of Digital Transport in Africa‘, we took a close look at the funding landscape for African start-ups working in transport and logistics. This blog summarises the headlines ...

Innovator Spotlight Series: Tackling the urban energy challenge through digital innovation

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Through this series of blogs, the GSMA Digital Utilities programme will be profiling innovative companies using digital technology to respond to some of the most important energy access and reliability challenges facing African cities. These innovator spotlights will ...

Safe sanitation and solid waste management: Loowatt Madagascar’s evolving partnership with the Antananarivo city authority

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Loowatt have developed a waterless and closed-loop sanitation system that offers a superb user experience. Their hygienic and safe toilets capture waste that can then be treated and transformed into other by-products, including energy and fertiliser. In 2015, the ...

ATEC and ENGIE sign a digital carbon credit agreement

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We would like to thank Judith Mulwa and Zach White for their contribution to this blog. In March 2023, ATEC signed a long-term multi-country agreement with ENGIE’s business entity ‘Global Energy Management & Sales’ (GEMS) for the purchase of up to 11.5 million tons of ...

MWC Barcelona 2023: Velocity for climate action and innovative urban services 

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From 27 February to 2 March, the GSMA ClimateTech and Digital Utilities programmes attended MWC Barcelona 2023. The programmes collaborated on a range of engaging sessions, met with key stakeholders working at the intersection of digital innovation, social impact and ...

The role of digital innovation in accelerating clean cooking adoption in Kenya 

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We would like to thank Dr Jon Leary, Senior Research Associate at Gamos East Africa, for their contribution to this blog. Kenya aims to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2028.  This commitment is in line with the national target of transitioning to the use of ...

Digitalising energy and water services in Nepal

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In early February, the GSMA Digital Utilities programme, in partnership with Diyalo and Gham Power, hosted a forum on “Improving Urban Water and Energy Services in Nepal”. This forum brought together over 70 participants working across energy and water in ...

Pay-as-you-go utilities: Innovations and opportunities in Asia

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The recently published 2021 Global Findex Database by the World Bank revealed that 1 billion people worldwide gained access to basic financial tools over the past decade. It also reveals that another 1.4 billion people are not being reached by traditional financial ...

MWC Africa 2022 – Partnering for Improved Service Delivery: Learning from leaders

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On 27 October 2022, the Digital Utilities programme hosted a session titled, ‘Partnering for Improved Service Delivery: Learning from leaders’ during the first annual MWC Africa in Kigali. The session focussed on the role of partnerships in extending essential ...

Enabling essential city services through innovation and public-private partnerships: Insights from Rwanda

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During MWC Africa 2022, which was held in Kigali from 25 to 27 of October, our Digital Utilities programme hosted a roundtable, as part of our Digital Urban Utilities Forums. The roundtable brought together 26 participants from 21 organisations representing government ...

World Toilet Day 2022: Celebrating innovation in sanitation

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This World Toilet Day, the Digital Utilities programme wanted to take a moment to recognise and celebrate some of those bringing innovative solutions to the sanitation sector. This blog highlights three areas where digital technology is pushing services further, and the ...

Introducing JanaJal: Clean water via mobile water ATMs for Delhi slum residents

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JanaJal is a brand by Supremus Developers, delivering safe drinking water using technology-based solutions in India.

Introducing Soso Care: Micro health insurance from waste plastic recycling

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Soso Care is a micro mobile health insurance company, using an innovative approach to providing health insurance to low-income populations in Nigeria.