Access to Energy:

A Multifaceted Challenge

Addressing Energy Poverty: A Path to Sustainable Development

 

The Global Energy Access Landscape

 

Energy access remains a critical global issue, with disparities in both electricity and clean cooking solutions.

  • Electricity: Around 759 million people worldwide lack access to electricity, for basic needs like lighting, refrigeration, and cooling.
  • Cooking: Approximately 2.6 billion people depend on dirty biomass fuels and technologies for cooking (SEforALL, 2020), with significant health and environmental consequences.. This issue is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

The Impact of Energy Poverty

 

Limited access to modern energy services hampers sustainable development in multiple ways:

  • Health: Household air pollution from traditional cooking methods contributes to millions of premature deaths annually.
  • Education: Lack of electricity limits study hours and access to educational resources.
  • Economic Opportunities: Energy poverty restricts productive activities and income generation.
  • Gender Equality: Women and girls often bear the brunt of energy poverty, spending hours collecting fuel and cooking in hazardous conditions.

 

Empowerment through Clean Energy

 

Solutions exist to address these challenges:

  • For electricity: Decentralized solar and other renewable energy sources.
  • For cooking: Clean cooking options ranging from improved biomass to LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas).

 

Strong energy access programs don't just provide electricity or fuel for cooking; they unlock deep social impact – often with surprising results. A clean energy revolution in sub-Saharan Africa is urgently needed to win the fight against energy poverty.

Clean energy provides a golden thread to deliver on the promise of Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It can unlock sustainable economic growth, improve human health and well-being, and enable women and children to lead more productive lives (UN, 2018; NCE, 2018).

By making access to energy goals more important, more visible, and more ambitious, governments will be better able to attract funding for its execution.

 

 

How Enabling Qapital is contributing to Access to Energy

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At Enabling Qapital we focus on Clean Cooking solutions


 

At Enabling Qapital, we've identified clean cooking as a critical intervention point. Through the Spark+ Africa Fund, we're addressing this challenge by:

  • Investing in innovative, high-impact companies across the clean cooking value chain.
  • Supporting the development and distribution of next-generation cooking solutions.
  • Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, where the need is most acute.

 

Spark+ Africa Fund, with its $65 million investment capacity, is pioneering as the first fund specialized in clean and modern cooking energy solutions for the region. One core aim of the Spark+ Africa fund is to promote and support the growth of the Clean Cooking value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through these investments, we aim to bridge the persistent gap in access to essential modern energy at the household level in many developing markets.

 

Enabling Qapital

Enabling Qapital AG

Mühlebachstrasse 164

8008 Zurich

Switzerland

Enabling Qapital AG

Branch Geneva

Place du Grand-Mézel 1,

1204 Geneva

Switzerland

Enabling Qapital Kenya Ltd

Merchant Square Block B

2nd Floor, Riverside Drive

Nairobi

Kenya

Enabling Microfinance AG

Industriering 20,

9491 Ruggell

Liechtenstein

Enabling Qapital Luxembourg S.A.

16, rue Robert Stümper,

2557 Luxembourg

Luxembourg

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