OVERVIEW

About half of the people in sub-Saharan Africa live without access to electricity. Although many of these people will be connected to an expanding electricity grid in the future, decentralized solutions connecting people beyond the grid are the most cost-efficient way to provide power for more than half of those seeking access. Even those who will eventually be grid-connected can face wait times of 20-30 years or longer as the infrastructure build-out tries to keep up with population growth.

Since 2014, Power Africa has supported off-grid electricity access to unlock investment and growth for off-grid energy solutions on the African continent.

POWER AFRICA SUPPORT TO OFF-GRID COMPANIES

Power Africa supports off-grid companies to promote innovative products and services, enhance management skills, and successfully scale up and grow their businesses.

An example of this is Kenyan-owned off-grid solar company Deevabits Green Energy, which Power Africa has been supporting with comprehensive services. In 2016, Power Africa provided a $250,000 catalytic seed capital grant from the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), and from 2020-2023 provided technical assistance to create a gender action plan, investment readiness support including financial management and modeling coaching, and introductions to a variety of investors.

Power Africa has also provided technical assistance to Deevabits’ technology supplier, U.S. company Sun King, including market intelligence, tax and import guidance, and access to finance support.

As a result of this comprehensive assistance, Deevabits has become a local leader and has already benefited over 150,000 Kenyans with transformative impacts. The company’s standalone solar systems power households’ needs for everything from nighttime lighting for security and studying to radios, phone charging and other modern services.

THE POWER AFRICA PARTNERSHIP AT WORK BEYOND THE GRID

The Power Africa partnership is made up of 12 U.S. government agencies, many of which have made substantial investments beyond the grid:

• Power Africa through USAID manages four large regional technical assistance programs that are expected to result in at least 8.5 million new off-grid electricity connections and almost 150,000 productive use of energy connections, across East, Central, Southern, and West Africa. Learn more about the types of work these programs do.
• The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has made numerous strategic investments in the off-grid sector, including a $100 million commitment to Power Africa partner Mirova’s Gigaton Fund, a blended finance debt fund expecting to deploy $1.2 billion of private debt throughout its life cycle primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in sectors including solar home systems, agri-solar, mini-grids and e-mobility, and a $20 million senior debt commitment to Power Africa partner d.light’s Brighter Life Kenya off-balance sheet financing vehicle for solar home systems for 1.2 million people in Kenya.
• The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) made a $19 million investment in Benin’s off-grid sector, leveraging another $30 million in private investment to deploy up to 55 solar mini-grids across the country benefitting up to 110,000 people. Electricity produced by these mini-grids will meet domestic household needs and bring clean power to businesses and public service providers.
• Since 2013, the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) has provided more than $24 million in grant funding to support over 197 African-owned off-grid energy enterprises across 18 countries, working to generate over 250 MW of power, improving the lives of more than a million people in some of the most underserved regions across the continent. Learn more about this work.

OFF-GRID ENERGY FOR PRODUCTIVE USE

Power Africa recognizes that in order for off-grid energy solutions to improve lives and livelihoods, they must ultimately be linked to productive uses.

Given that agriculture in particular is a source of livelihood for 86% of those living in rural areas, economic development and income growth for farmers and their families will depend on linking energy to the agricultural value chain.

But bringing these types of solutions to scale is not always easy.

That is why Power Africa funds activities focused on growing the productive use sector, in order to drive the widespread adoption and expansion of these technologies. Beyond the Grid’s technical advisors are working with an emerging cohort of productive use companies to achieve scale, helping companies like Simusolar to secure new investments.

In addition to supply-side support, Beyond the Grid also works on demand stimulation, for example, Power Africa funded an awareness campaign in an isolated island community that stimulated a variety of new industry services such as dairy production, steel welding, and fish processing.

WATCH: PRODUCTIVE USE OF ENERGY HELPING TO ACHIEVE HIGHER-LEVEL DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES IN LIBERIA