Energy

Beat-making and blackouts in Goma and Bamako

May 7th, 2013 12:49 PM UTC
By Guest Blogger

What happens when you provide creative young Africans with the tools to make their own electronic music? US University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hip-hop professors and artists Stephen Levitin (aka Apple Juice Kid) and Pierce Freelon traveled to Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo to find out.

The Beat Making Lab, a project that builds youth-oriented music studios in cultural centers around the world, started as a college course in America. In the class, students are taught the practical, historical and entrepreneurial aspects of beat making. Stephen and Pierce soon realised that their project could have a more profound impact if applied to some of the world’s poorest places.

With the ultimate goal of empowering young musicians, the professors came up with a model to raise money for equipment, provide their expertise in a two-week programme, then leave the studios behind for sustainable community use. Since that moment of realisation, they’ve set up beat labs in some pretty interesting places: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Panama, and soon Fiji.

ONE intern Hannah got the chance to ask Pierce Freelon some questions about their Africa projects specifically, and learn more about how they’ve created a global do-it-yourself digital music community.

How does providing studio space and the tools and training to make beats and songs create a social impact?
When youth are engaged in something positive and productive, it has residual influence on the community. They are collaborating, growing and building something which strengthens solidarity, self-esteem and “pamoja”, a Kiswahili word that means “oneness”. They are also learning a new skillset. Our students are becoming fluent in software and technologies that will allow them to work as producers, engineers, mixers or technicians in recording studios or live settings. All of this creates positive social impact.

The Beat Making Lab filming a music video in Senegal. Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/beatmakinglab

Why do you think it is important for African youth to learn how to make beats?
I think it’s important for all youth, everywhere, to have creative outlets to express themselves. That’s why we partner with vibrant cultural institutions around the world – they already get this fundamental point. Kids that have creative and constructive outlets are better off than those that don’t. It doesn’t have to be beat making. It could be painting, choir, break dancing, skateboarding, football, etc. As long as they’re passionate about it, something good will come out of them investing in it.

How did you come up with the idea of taking your Beat Making Lab to Africa? What was your inspiration for this new initiative?
When I was asked to co-teach the class, I was intrigued by the prospects of building a community music studio and taking the resources of the university to a place where the entrepreneurship and skills could serve a larger purpose than giving college students three credit hours.

Young African producers hard at work. Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/beatmakinglab

Are Africans using music as a way to promote social change? What kinds of issues and emotions are they trying to communicate?
The same kinds of issues and emotions that youth everywhere try to communicate. Our students write about festivals, war, love, health, their families, friends, favorite dances. Some of our Congolese students rapped about conflict, politics and change in their verses, because many of them are living in situations where those topics are a daily issue. Meanwhile our Senegalese students, tended to focus more on friends, family and health, because that was a part of their daily experience.

They are producing all kinds of music: dancehall, reggae, hip hop, EDM, R&B, etc.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced with taking your Beat Making Lab from the States to Africa?
Electricity was a big issue in Goma. The power grid fluctuated and was not reliably consistent. We also struggled with providing enough resources to all of the students who wanted to participate. We were only able to work with about 16 to 20 students, but there were more than 100 who applied.

In Senegal, our biggest challenge was providing transportation for our students from their homes to the studio and back. We want our kids to have easy access to the resources we provide but sometimes it’s hard when the youth are so spread out.

How do you pick who takes your class in Africa? Is it a first-come, first-served sign up? Are there any prerequisites?
There are no prerequisites. That’s one of the beautiful things about our programme. All you need is a willingness to work hard. We rely on our partnering institutions to select the students. We ask them to select six to 12 diverse and creative youth. No previous musical experience is required, only the desire to learn.

African students continue to share their songs and stories. Photo credit: generationbass.com

How do your African students share their songs and continue to create an impact after you leave?
Internet is notoriously slow in Congo. I’m talking slower than your grandmother’s dial-up. So, sharing songs over the internet has been challenging with our students there. We’re working on moving to a cloud-based data transfer system, so tracks can be uploaded pieces at a time, without having to start over if the lights go out.

We’ve also considered a snail mail system, where they can ship hard drives full of their beats and sessions to a place with better bandwidth for upload. Email and Facebook, which require less bandwidth, have been more usable. Several of the students have continued to publish blogs, and other writings, leading to fairly substantial opportunities for them to share their stories.

As far as continuing to create impact, our studios and equipment remain in Dakar and Goma and the kids have continued to write songs and collaborate with local musicians in the community. It’s been great.

Can you tell us a little bit about your own musical backgrounds?
Apple Juice Kid is a drummer, DJ and music producer who has produced for Wale, Azealia Banks, Camp Lo and Mos Def. I am the frontman of a hip hop and jazz quartet called The Beast.

What’s next?
Our Fijian Beat Making Lab starts in May and we’re excited about working with a group of students at the Oceania Centre there. After that, we hope to get the funding to continue our work. If you’re interesting in learning more, want to bring a beat making lab you your community or want to contribute to the cause, hit us up here.

What is the biggest lesson you hope your students take away from your beat making class/workshop?
Follow your passions and work hard. Only you can tell your story.

Learn more about Beat Making Lab by checking out their YouTube Videos, their Facebook updates and follow them on Twitter. 

Meet the innovators and entrepreneurs of Kenya’s Kibera slum

Mar 28th, 2013 8:35 AM UTC
By Guest Blogger

This guest post is by journalist Abby Higgins, in partnership with The Seattle Globalist. It’s the second in a four part series which reveals the economically complex and culturally rich life of urban slums, and challenges our perceptions of what life is like for the 1 billion people around the world that live in them. Read Abby’s first post. 

The shop is dark and humid. I duck inside, and the warm glow of three television screens coats a room filled with a dozen neighborhood boys. Three of them hammer away at PlayStation controllers, sending a tiny soccer ball leaping across the screen.

“They pay 10 shilling to play for 10 minutes,” explains Vitalis Odhiambo, the shop owner. “I probably get around 20 customers in a day, more when school is out of session.”

Neighbourhood youth pay about ten cents for ten minutes of play on PlayStation consoles in Diddy’s arcade. (Photo by Abby Higgins)

Odhiambo, who goes by the nickname Diddy, was born in Kibera and has lived there his entire life. In addition to his PlayStation business, he runs a shop outside of Kibera that sells women’s shoes and clothing. He even operates a tour company, capitalising on outsiders’ curiosity about his increasingly famous home.

Like most slums, Kibera has no formal government services. Residents can’t access clean water, sanitation, electricity or health care the way the rest of Nairobi does.

It’s easy to think of slums as places of listless poverty filled with victims of circumstances waiting for outside intervention.  But Odhiambo’s shop shows another side. Slum dwellers are entrepreneurs and innovators, constantly manipulating their surroundings to creatively address the problems they and their communities face.

“They’re probably the most inventive people in the world because they often have limited access to resources,” said Cynthia Smith, who is the curator of socially responsible design at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Smith traveled to 15 countries to learn about slum innovations, from vertical water and sewer services climbing a mountainside settlement in Caracas, Venezuela, to a community oven in Kibera that uses rubbish as fuel. She has compiled her work into an ongoing exhibition called “Design with the Other 90%: CITIES.”

According to U.N. Habitat, 85% of new employment opportunities around the world are in the informal economy, like the untaxed, unregulated businesses in Kibera.

If he gets a little more start-up capital, Diddy says, he’ll expand his business to build a larger gaming centre, with computers and additional PlayStation consoles.  But isn’t it difficult to operate a video arcade with no formal electrical system?

Odhiambo says it’s rarely a problem. His shop is powered by Kibera’s primary electricity suppliers, a complex — and entirely illegal — system that has been maintained by generations of Kibera residents.

Not connected to the formal utilities of Nairobi, Kibera residents build everything themselves from power lines to water cisterns. (Photo by Alex Stonehill)

Phillip, who asked that his last name not be used because of the illegal nature of his work, is one of dozens of agents who keep the slum powered. Residents pay him about $4 per month to get hooked up.

He grew up in Kibera and is using his job as an informal electricity broker to pay his college tuition while he is studying broadcast journalism.

“We run three lines from different parts of the city. That way if one isn’t working, there are two additional lines that can be used as backup,” Philip told me. “It’s very infrequent that people lose their power.”

On the whole, Nairobi is a highly developed, modern city. Just ten minutes from Kibera are luxury apartments and malls with boutique stores and sushi restaurants.  But even wealthy neighbourhoods like Lavington and Karen — home to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga — have basic infrastructure problems that are unfamiliar in the global north.  Last year, I spent an entire night with my electronics piled around me at a dingy restaurant because I had a deadline to meet and it was the only place in my neighbourhood with electricity.

I asked Phillip if it was possible that Kibera’s residents enjoyed more reliable power than I did.  “I’d say that is probably true,” he answered with a smile.

Check back next week for Part Three

What makes you angry?

Nov 13th, 2012 4:00 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

Many things in our modern lives make us angry: long queues at the supermarket, missing the last bus, traffic jams, difficult to open packaging. Sometimes though, it’s worth taking stock and considering something we should be really angry about – energy poverty.

Yesterday I was at the launch of the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2012 report and sitting in the audience I was getting angry…  luckily I wasn’t alone.

Nearly 7 out of 10 people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity and nearly 8 out of 10 people do not have access to clean cooking facilities.

Sadly this picture isn’t improving – if anything it’s getting worse.

According to the World Energy Outlook 2012, by 2030 the total number of people without access to modern energy sources will decrease in every region EXCEPT Sub-Saharan Africa.  Under current policies by 2030 there will be 655 million people without access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa as oppose to the 589 million currently without access.  The total number of people without access to clean cooking is also increasing.

This is ridiculous. Sub-Saharan Africa’s renewable energy potential is huge.

As of 2010: only 0.6% of its geothermal energy had been exploited; less than 2% of its wind energy had been exploited; only 7% of its hydropower potential had been exploited; and Africa has hardly even scratched the surface of its solar.  Additionally even if not all of this energy access was provided from renewable energy sources the International Energy Agency predicts global CO₂ emissions would increase by only 0.6%.

Access to modern energy sources is crucial for human development and job creation. It is unrealistic to think that Africans will be able to fulfil their human or developmental potential when the majority of them are excluded from modern energy access.

Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, agrees.  When asked about the lack of modern energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa he stated:

“We believe this is economically, socially and morally unacceptable.”

and he is right…   luckily there is some good news:

25 African countries have now signed up in support of Sustainable Energy for All initiative.  An initiative set up last year to spur action to: achieve universal modern energy access; double the share of renewables in the global mix; and double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency; all by 2030.  African Energy Ministers are meeting in Ethiopia this week at the Second AU Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa (CEMA) to look at how to mobilise domestic resources and prioritise energy in their economic development strategies.  The European Commission, the African Development Bank, the World Bank and German and French Development Ministries have all said they will be funding more projects to increase energy access.

What we need to do now is build on this good intention.  We need to put leaders under pressure to turn this interest into actual KiloWatt Hours of energy delivered to those who need it.

With your help – we’ll be able to turn anger about energy poverty into action. With your support, we at ONE will be working with leaders and government to do this – so that soon access to modern energy isn’t the exception in Sub-Saharan Africa but the norm.

Expanding energy access to fight extreme poverty

Aug 8th, 2012 3:00 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

The recent 2012 Ashden Conference on Sustainable Solution for Better Lives had a focus on energy solutions for better lives and was Chaired by Richenda Van Leeuwen Executive Director of Energy and Climate at the United Nations Foundation. Ms Van Leeuwen is an international energy expert with over 20 years of experience and has a particular focus on energy access for poverty alleviation. I sat down with her to talk about the importance of energy access and the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.

In the second of two short videos Richenda discusses what the private sector, governments and civil society can do in 2012 to tackle energy poverty.

You can find out more about energy poverty and the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All here and you can learn about the Ashden Award winners here.

Why energy is important for development

Aug 7th, 2012 1:29 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

The recent 2012 Ashden Conference on Sustainable Solution for Better Lives had a focus on energy solutions for better lives and was Chaired by Richenda Van Leeuwen Executive Director of Energy and Climate at the United Nations Foundation. Ms Van Leeuwen is an international energy expert with over 20 years of experience and has a particular focus on energy access for poverty alleviation. I sat down with her to talk about the importance of energy access and the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.

In the first of two short videos Richenda and I discuss the importance of energy access and why action is needed now in the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All to address the energy poverty challenge.

In tomorrow’s video Richenda will discuss how the private sector, governments and civil society can help to tackle energy poverty.

Taking the positives from Rio+20 – recognising energy access as crucial for development

Jun 22nd, 2012 2:20 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

Unfortunately there is little denying the failure in international leadership at the UN Convention on Sustainable Development, otherwise known as Rio+20.  In a world of rising inequality and unsustainable pressure on our planet’s natural resources – both of which are undermining economic growth and poverty alleviation – government leaders and civil society organisations alike have stated the Rio+20 outcomes lack a strong vision.

However, when leaders come together later today to endorse the final text, we must recognise that not everything was a failure. We must be sure to take the positives from Rio+20 and build upon them.  For example: It is great news that the international community will recognise and endorse the right of everyone to clean water and sanitation facilities. Leaders will also commit to protect, and restore, the health, productivity and resilience of oceans and marine ecosystems for present and future generations.

On energy – a particular focus for ONE – governments will recognise the central importance of energy access to development; noting that access to these services are essential to social inclusion and gender equality.  This recognition is a good step forward as the issue of energy access has been overlooked for too long by the international community.

The recognition is also supported by the announcement made yesterday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon that more than one hundred commitments and actions have been already mobilized in support of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.  The commitments made by private sector companies, civil society organizations and governments seek to achieve universal energy access by 2030, as well as doubling the share of the renewables in the global mix and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

The commitments made as part of this announcement include over 23 made by African nations.  Additional notable commitments include: the African Development Bank investing $20 billion in energy by 2030, businesses and investors committing over USD $50 billion to the goals of SE4ALL, Brazil investing an additional $235 billion over ten years in renewable energy, the European Union providing access to sustainable energy services to 500 million people by 2030 and d.Light Design committing to providing solar lamps to 30 million people in more than 40 countries by 2015.

ONE’s Global Policy Director, Ben Leo, welcomed the commitments and the announcement. He said:

“A lack of access to clean, reliable and affordable energy is trapping millions in poverty and limiting growth and development.  Yet despite the fact that we have the solutions that can increase energy access, until now, political leadership on this issue has been lacking.  The announcement made today by the Secretary General is therefore very welcome, particularly because the commitments made to date under the SE4ALL initiative are expected to benefit more than 1 billion people.”

Of course this is only the first step.  It is essential the commitments made in Rio this week are turned into concrete action that delivers for African citizens and the world…. This will not be easy.

Governments must be held to account and donors, governments, businesses and civil society must work together.  This will be of particular importance in providing clean, reliable and affordable energy access for all.  No one group can do achieve this by itself and it is only through collaborative and inclusive action that we will see an end to the day when 7 out of 10 citizens in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity.  ONE will be working hard to ensure that this is the case.

Rio+20: How to provide electricity to the 1.3 billion people who still lack it?

Jun 19th, 2012 2:44 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

Yesterday at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development the United Nations Foundation released the Energy Access Practitioner Network report: Towards Achieving Universal Energy Access by 2030 – a set of recommendations based on international on-the-ground experience to provide electricity to the 1.3 billion people who still lack it.

Rio + 20 logo, Wikipedia

ONE strongly welcomes the report which will inform governments, investors, the private sector, civil society organizations, social enterprises and the United Nations about the policy shifts and innovative business models that are needed to catalyze the sector and provide sustainable energy to the poorest communities.

The report took almost two years of consultation to write and involved over 500 international experts, representing a range of disciplines and organizations who collectively deliver energy services to well over 11 million households annually.  Primarily focusing on micro- and off-grid electricity solutions for households and communities – not extension of the traditional power grid – the report focuses on providing electricity to some of the most isolated or overlooked global citizens.

It will be crucial that over the next year governments, the private sector and NGOs, take on the recommendations of the report and turn them into commitments and action to help provide electricity access to some of the poorest people on the earth.

“These recommendations draw on the combined practical experience of people working on the front lines to deliver energy services in some 125 countries around the world,” said the Practitioner Network coordinator Richenda Van Leeuwen. “It highlights their challenges and opportunities, and a range of policy, financing and technical recommendations that will help communities and the customers they serve to get the development benefits in health, income generation, agriculture, education, gender equity, and environmental protection that modern energy services can provide.”

With global leaders coming together this Thursday in Rio for a high level event on Sustainable Energy for All ONE will be asking that international leaders take on the recommendations of the report and ensure that steps are taken to bring modern energy access to all.

Energy Poverty Challenge: The results!

Jun 18th, 2012 5:48 PM UTC
By Tom Wallace

This blog post outlines the results to our Energy Poverty Challenge and explains the viability of the five solutions we proposed.

Ngong Hills Wind Project

In April, ONE CEO Michael Elliot launched our Energy Poverty Challenge, which polled our ONE members on energy solutions for the world’s poorest people. It’s an incredibly important issue, because currently, 7 out of 10 people in sub-Saharan Africa live without access to electricity or modern energy sources, giving them an unfair disadvantage in life.

Since then, more than 340 of you have voted in our energy pollution poll, and more than 100 of you made comments and suggestions on how to provide energy to the poorest on Facebook and Twitter. And now, with country representatives meeting in Rio de Janeiro this week to discuss how they plan to tackle the energy poverty challenge, the results of the ONE poll on what you think are the most important ways to address the energy poverty challenge are in.

Here are the results, ordered from lowest to highest votes. A detailed explanation of the viability of these solutions are outlined below.

In 5th place
More money from governments
International Energy Agency and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis estimates that achieving universal energy access in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 could cost between $21 to 28 billion annually. Simply providing more money isn’t going to ensure the poorest receive modern energy access.

In 4th place
Legislation changes in poor countries to prioritize energy access
A supportive legislative environment that requires and supports business and utility providers in providing electricity and clean cookstoves to the poorest will be crucial to ensuring that the poor are not overlooked in the expansion of energy access.

In 3rd place
More skills training on how to install and deliver energy services for poor country citizens
Providing modern energy access to the poorest and building the technology and infrastructure to deliver this energy requires technical know-how. Skills training and education on the installation, operation and maintenance of these technologies will be crucial if the poorest are both going to get access to modern energy and be able to effectively use and maintain such energy technology in the long term.

In 2nd place
The expansion of private sector energy companies who specifically work to provide energy to the poorest
With governments having limited finance to support the scaling up of energy access and many social impact companies showing that there is a way to use the private sector to provide energy access to the poorest, you recognized the increasing role and importance of the private sector in increasing access to the poorest.

In 1st place
New energy solutions — like solar panel powered tools and technology
With other overwhelming majority of the votes you felt that the use of new technologies was going to be crucial in ensuring the poorest get access to modern energy. In comments you mentioned about the potential of solar panels, wind and even geothermal energy solutions in Africa. You thought that the use of new technologies to harness Africa’s renewable energy potential, but also deliver this energy more efficiently to isolated regions, was crucial.

ONE is now taking this information to leaders at Rio and asking them to commit to addressing the energy poverty challenge. With a high-level event on Sustainable Energy for All taking place later this week we hope governments will take this information on-board and make clear commits to address energy poverty in line with the suggestions above.

Thanks to all of you who voted and took part! We’ll let you know the outcome of the Rio discussions soon.

d.light’s approach to the Energy Poverty Challenge

Jun 8th, 2012 10:57 AM UTC
By Guest Blogger

ONE is inviting friends and supporters to share ideas on how to provide energy for the world’s poorest people as part of our Energy Poverty Challenge. In this piece, Sandra R. Curtis, International Marketing Fellow of d.light, discusses how companies can increase access to modern energy and provide solar lighting options to poor or overlooked communities.

Photo ©2011 d.lightdesign

To the over two billion people around the world who do not have access to reliable electricity, d.light is just that . . . a delight. The company’s initial goal is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe, reliable, bright light.

This is not an easy market to reach, extending across cultures, boundaries and generations.
Families not connected to traditional electricity infrastructure grids make up most of what is often referred to as the “bottom of the pyramid”—the largest consumer market comprised of the poorest households. These people can also live in some of the toughest environments on the planet. Therefore, providing lighting products to such off-grid households require consumer products that are high quality, well-designed, durable, and affordable. d.light is one of a group of companies whose products are meeting the test. The response and results have been remarkably effective.

Photo: Mafia Island family reading by a d.light lantern. ©2011 d.lightdesign

Take Tanzania’s Mafia Island. With no electricity on the island, children were using dim, dangerous and polluting kerosene lamps to study. Last year, d.light provided high quality solar lighting to students in partnership with Solar Aid.

The collaboration was so successful, it spawned an expansion program, which targets the broader Mafia community. Solar Aid’s social enterprise arm, SunnyMoney, is d.light’s partner on the follow-up project.

d.light’s partnership with SunnyMoney provides several benefits, notes an island headmaster. Families save on these purchases and no one breathes their unhealthy fumes. Children can study at night without the risk of fire from kerosene lamps or candles; the average study time for students using the solar lights increased by 1-3 hours per night. An estimated 44% of the households on Mafia Island are now owners of at least one solar lamp.

“We do not know of any other place in the whole of Africa where over 40% of households own a solar lamp!” says John Kean, Managing Director of SunnyMoney “For us, this is a glimpse of Africa’s future. ”

In three years of products in the marketplace, d.light has expanded to over 40 countries around the globe, pioneering off-grid options for home, school and business use.  The approach doesn’t simply treat the poor as being poor, but instead respects them as a consumer wanting a reliable product.  This business approach to increasing access to the poorest has helped to build local consumer markets, distribution channels and employment opportunities, while saving people money in the long term as they no-longer have to pay for kerosene fuel. A social enterprise for-profit company, d.light focuses on a double bottom line in which the social impact is just as important as its financial sustainability.

d.light is just one of the companies that will play a crucial role in illuminating not only Africa, but the 4 out of 7 billion people worldwide who live without reliable electricity. Over the next ten years, the company’s mission will provide “A Brighter Future” for all.

Micro hydro power lights up life in Africa

May 25th, 2012 4:17 PM UTC
By ONE Partners

ONE is inviting friends and supporters to share ideas on how to provide energy for the world’s poorest people as part of our Energy Poverty Challenge. In this piece, Ernest Mupunga, Southern Africa Director of international development charity Practical Action, discusses how small access to energy is challenging poverty and offering life-changing opportunities in Africa.

“We can now study at night at the school and our schoolwork has improved significantly as we no longer have to use paraffin lamps to study and do assignments at night,” says Chipendeke Primary School pupil Madeline Bofu. “When I complete my education, I would like to become a lawyer.” Read her story here.

“Our clinic is now able to treat people at night and store medicines,’’ said William Chanakira, from the Chipendeke Clinic. “The biggest problem we used to face was with women who gave birth at night. They had to provide their own candles or lamps”.

These voices are from villagers from Chipendeke, one of the rural communities in Southern Africa that Practical Action have been working with to develop small scale micro hydro schemes– harnessing water to provide them with energy.

Community workers at the micro hydro scheme

Chipendeke is situated 64km south east of Mutare, a province in eastern Zimbabwe. The micro hydro scheme uses a local stream to power a turbine, providing electricity to the area.

It is owned and operated by the community it serves, with maintenance carried out by trained members of the community. As a result, it provides employment, as well as providing the power to re-energise the entire community.

Much of the community’s income is generated through farming crops such as maize, wheat, potatoes and tomatoes. Introducing electricity in the area has improved the efficiency of the farmers and the quality of their produce. Farmers can now power workshops to repair damaged tools and can also power grinding mills, which vastly increases their productivity and income.

Social life has been greatly enhanced. Communities can now watch TV and listen to the radio, keeping them in touch with the rest of the country, and can recharge their mobile phones.

A clinic with a catchment area of 25,000 people can now sterilize drugs in cold rooms and provide maternity services for expecting mothers, including live saving cesarean births for complicated deliveries.

Mother and son wait for vaccination against TB and pneumonia

The school block, including teachers’ houses, has been electrified, increasing its chances of retaining qualified teachers. Children are now able to study at night.

Local shop owners can refrigerate their products and a number of small business enterprises are emerging, such as peanut butter processing.

Woman with her peanut crop

However, for four out of five families in Africa, access to modern energy is still a pipedream.

There are political, economic, technical and institutional barriers that limit the development and use of renewable energy sources to meet the energy needs of poor, off-grid communities.

Zimbabwe and Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most off track regarding progress on the MDGs, yet the geography and climate make it ideal for renewable energy systems that can provide marginalised people from rural communities with the resources they need to fight their way out of poverty.

Practical Action is a leading NGO an ‘Energy for All by 2030’ initiative working to raise public awareness and political will to make energy access a development priority. You can find out more about Practical Action and their work on ‘Energy for All by 2030’ here and help us achieve this aim by making your point about energy access for all.