From surgical lighting to vaccine refrigeration, healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa depends on energy at every level. Yet across the region only 40% of healthcare facilities have reliable electricity, and even among hospitals, just half can count on a consistent power supply.
The Efficiency for Access Design Challenge Accelerator Programme, delivered in collaboration with Energy Catalyst, has successfully completed its third round.
Energy Catalyst was pleased to support a strong delegation of portfolio innovators at Sankalp Africa Summit 2026 in Nairobi, aligned with this year’s theme, South–South Rising.
Across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, nearly 600 million people who still lack electricity access face a compounding challenge as the changing climate wreaks damage on vital infrastructure.
Up to £7m in transformative grant funding is now available to companies advancing clean energy access across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Latin America.
Smart Villages Research Group (SVRG) is a UK-based company spun out of Oxford and Cambridge-based research on energy access and sustainable rural development. Since 2012, SVRG has worked globally to translate research into practical energy-for-development solutions, including pilots Eastern and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia.
Discover Energy Catalyst’s latest report, which explores how innovative technologies and approaches are strengthening grid and mini-grid stability and expanding access to reliable energy across sub-Saharan Africa.
The Efficiency for Access Design Challenge Accelerator Programme, delivered in collaboration with Energy Catalyst, has successfully completed its second round – spotlighting transformative innovations from university teams across Africa.
AI and digital technologies are transforming off-grid energy access in Africa, enabling smarter, more adaptive systems that overcome traditional barriers like poor infrastructure, limited data, and financial exclusion.
The 2025 Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF) brought together over 500 innovators, investors, and energy thought leaders over four days in Kampala, Uganda this April.
A major conference on scaling innovation took centre stage in the Kenyan capital Nairobi at the end of February, uniting more than 1,500 innovators, investors, and thought leaders around the central theme of “Scaling Africa’s entrepreneurs.”
Discover Energy Catalyst’s latest report, which delves into the crucial role of sustainable cooling products and the productive use of renewable energy (PURE) solutions in enhancing energy access.
The Efficiency for Access Design Challenge Accelerator Programme, in partnership with Energy Catalyst, has successfully concluded its inaugural round, celebrating the innovative solutions developed by university students from around the world.
The Sankalp Bharat Summit 2024, hosted in Varanasi, India, on November 26-27, brought together over 700 delegates to discuss, define, and advance the critical levers of entrepreneurial success.
BURN is transforming the clean cooking market in Africa by prioritising localisation, sustainability, and community empowerment.
The Nigeria Energy Leadership Summit, held from 15 to 17 October 2024 in Lagos, brought electricity sector stakeholders together under the theme of “Breaking Barriers in the New Energy Era: Clean, Reliable, and Sustainable”.
Mandulis Energy, a Ugandan mini-grid operator, leverages cutting-edge technologies to deliver affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity to smallholder farmers while driving broader socioeconomic transformation.
The Global Off-Grid Solar Forum and Expo 2024 (GOGFSE 24), held from October 8-10 in Nairobi, Kenya, gathered over 1,500 participants for discussions and exhibitions centred around the theme – “Powering Lives, Energising Potential.”
Despite significant strides toward universal energy access, millions of people still lack reliable, affordable energy. Those most affected include residents of displacement camps, urban informal settlements, remote rural areas, and fragile states — where access to clean energy is scarce.
Organised by the Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE), the 2024 Energy Access Investment Forum was held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 21-23 May.
A new report sheds light on the indispensable role of innovation when it comes to navigating challenges in the African mini-grid sector.
Sankalp Africa Summit 2024, took place 28-29 February in Nairobi, Kenya, and provided an invaluable opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and development partners to exchange ideas and catalyse the necessary actions to achieve a just energy transition.
Held in Nairobi, 1-3 November 2023, Africa E-Mobility Week conference showcased the latest developments in the African electric vehicle (EV) sector to a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers, investors, regulators and development finance institutions.
Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst programme has awarded over £40 million in grant funding to a range of innovative projects with plans to harness clean energy and enable a just and inclusive energy transition.
The Energy Catalyst portfolio had a strong presence at this year’s Renewable Energy Forum Africa (REFA). The Nairobi-based event featured representatives from a range of
The Sankalp West Africa summit, held 12 – 13 June 2023 in Accra, Ghana, marked a milestone for the region bringing together diverse stakeholders from
Innovate UK is looking for assessors for the Energy Catalyst programme who can bring skills and experience in commercialising energy access innovations. Energy Catalyst’s mission
Up to £40m in innovation funding will be available to help combat climate change through clean energy access for communities in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Indo-Pacific regions.
Energy Catalyst is an official supporter of the upcoming SEforAll Forum in Kigali, Rwanda from 17-19 May.
Energy Catalyst, a UK government-funded programme, has announced its next wave of promising clean energy innovations. This is Round 8 of the funding programme, designed
This report by Energy Catalyst implementing partner New Energy Nexus provides an overview of the new energy ecosystems within three countries in South East Asia: Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Establishing an international supply chain is often a complex and challenging process for energy entrepreneurs and one made more difficult during the Covid-19 crisis as
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services for all by 2030. The
Digital technologies and services will prove critical to the attainment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which aims to provide access to
Great execution is a necessary but insufficient condition for success in the innovation landscape. Companies are often focused on execution – how to deliver on
22 July 2021 Last mile distributors play a critical role in providing access to energy and other life-changing services to unserved customers in sub-Saharan
The decade of the mini-grid: Accelerating innovation to address the energy trilemma in Sub-Saharan Africa Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 March 2021, Virtual 13:00 to
London, 17 December 2020: A new online platform was launched today to provide practical information and enable peer-to-peer networking for innovators developing technologies and business models