Energy

Globally 1.2 billion people lack access to electricity and 4.3 million people die prematurely every year from harmful fumes that come from a reliance on kerosene for cooking and heating. Current trends suggest Africa will not achieve universal access to electricity until 2080.

Energy access is critical for inclusive economic growth. This is supported by UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

There is an opportunity for the mobile industry to help solve this energy challenge while growing their businesses. More than half of the people who lack access to electricity are covered by mobile networks. Mobile technology can unlock new models of energy services, such as mobile money for affordable and remote bill payments, mobile services to communicate with customers, and machine-to-machine connectivity to remotely monitor distributed services.

M4D Utilities has funded 21 innovators using mobile technology and infrastructure to provide new or improved energy services to the underserved in Africa and Asia, boosting industry and economic growth for communities and operators. For example, pay-as-you-go solar home systems enable local entrepreneurs to charge phones and lanterns for their communities, and off-grid energy companies anchor their businesses on powering telecom towers in order to viably power surrounding communities. In turn, mobile operators see increased revenue from regularly charged phones, adoption of mobile money, and increased brand loyalty. Through these pilots and wider research, we share valuable market insights about the opportunities and challenges of these innovative business models, focusing on the key role the mobile operators can play.