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

The report finds that current finance flows for decentralized energy access are insufficient to meet national targets, with a particularly severe gap in the clean cooking sector. While enterprises in Kenya and Bangladesh show some success through PAYGO models and local currency debt, most others rely heavily on equity and grants. Key barriers include high collateral requirements, currency volatility, and a lack of local debt for SMEs.

• 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.
• Most energy access enterprises in Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, and Nigeria are primarily equity financed, whereas Bangladesh is a notable exception due to the availability of low-cost local currency debt provided by the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL).
• Common barriers to scaling include high collateral requirements from lenders, currency fluctuations that affect the cost of imported equipment, and gender-based disparities in accessing finance.
• Mini-grids are currently viewed as less 'bankable' than solar lanterns or solar home systems due to regulatory constraints on pricing, competition with subsidized national tariffs, and a lack of commercially viable scalable models.
• 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 spend 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} }