EEP Africa Support for e-Mobility and Productive Use Featured in ESI Africa

ESI Africa’s latest issue features two articles about EEP Africa’s experience with the the electric vehicle market and mini-grids that support productive use.  

EEP Africa is featured prominently in the latest issue of ESI Africa magazine (issue 1/2021) with two articles based on our experience funding early-stage clean energy companies.

Clean Transportation Needs Smart Grids: The e-mobility market in Africa has huge potential, but growth is liited by a lack of reliable electricity and charging infrastructure. Smart grids powered by renewable energy can help overcome these barriers and enable African countries to reduce emissions and meet their climate and development goals. In this article, EEP Africa’s Tracy Dolan, Head of Knowledge and Communications, and Lauri Tuomaala, Head of Portfolio and Finance, discuss the vital role of on-grid and off-grid energy solutions for the developing electric vehicle (EV) market in Africa.

The article also highlights some of the innovative e-mobility companies supported by EEP Africa, such as:

• EkoRent Africa operates NopeaRide, the first all-electric taxi service in Kenya (photo above)
• Zembo is bringing e-motorcycles to the “boda boda” taxi sector in Uganda
• ASOBO is leasing electric outboard engines (e-boarders) for fishing boats on Lake Victoria
• Mobility for Africa offers smallholder farmers e-trikes to transport produce to market in Zimbabwe (photo below)

Productive Use of Energy: Enhancing Green Growth: Integrating productive use of energy measures into mini-grid development is effective at stimulating energy demand and economic development. This enhances green growth in off-grid communities while also strengthening the financial sustainability of energy companies. The EEP Africa portfolio reflects an evolution in the mini-grid sector from simple Energy Supply business models towards Business Acceleration and Supplier-Offtake models.

This article by the ESI Africa editorial team highlights some of the key findings in EEP Africa’s report Powering Productivity and presents three of the report’s case studies: Renen Energy Solutions‘ biogas plant in South Africa (photo below), REDAVIA‘s solar plants in Tanzania and Kenya, and ACRA‘s hydro plant in Tanzania.

Read these articles and more in ESI Africa issue 1/2021