TAKING THE PULSE: UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES

This report analyzes the financing needs of enterprises providing decentralized electricity and clean cooking solutions (Tiers 1-3) in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Nigeria. It identifies a significant gap between current finance flows and the investment required to meet national energy access targets, highlighting systemic barriers such as high collateral requirements, currency volatility, and a lack of local currency debt.

• Annual finance needs to reach national targets for Tiers 1-3 energy access across the five surveyed countries are estimated at approximately $3.97 billion.
• The clean cooking sector faces a massive financing gap; the total estimated annual cost to meet clean cooking targets (including technology and fuels) in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria is $18.44 billion through 2030, while annual spending for residential clean cooking across 20 high-impact countries was only $32 million.
• Most energy access enterprises in Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Nigeria rely primarily on equity, whereas Bangladesh is the only surveyed country where low-cost local currency debt is common and widespread via the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL).
• Common financial barriers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) include high collateral requirements from lenders, currency exchange rate fluctuations that impact import costs and pricing, and limited access to finance for female entrepreneurs.
• Kenya is a global leader in the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) solar home system market due to a combination of mobile money, real-time analytics, and a supportive financial and regulatory environment.
• Mini-grids are considered less 'bankable' than solar lanterns or solar home systems because they often compete with subsidized national tariffs and face higher regulatory and political risks.
• In the clean cooking sector, the vast majority of costs are associated with fuels rather than the stoves themselves; for most basic stoves, the hardware cost is less than 5% of the total household expenditure on clean cooking through 2030.

APA

Mele, P., & Couture, T. (2017). TAKING THE PULSE: UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES. Sustainable Energy for All. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/2017_SEforALL_FR3_ES.PDF

Chicago

Mele, Paolo, and Toby Couture. TAKING THE PULSE: UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES. Sustainable Energy for All, 2017. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/2017_SEforALL_FR3_ES.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mele |first1=Paolo |last2=Couture |first2=Toby |title=TAKING THE PULSE: UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES |publisher=Sustainable Energy for All |date=2017 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/2017_SEforALL_FR3_ES.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mele2017taking, author = {Mele, Paolo and Couture, Toby}, title = {{TAKING THE PULSE: UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/2017_SEforALL_FR3_ES.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }