The poorest on the planet will be hardest hit by ravages of climate change. Many of them live in Africa.
After the just ended Africa Climate Week 2023, let me highlight the continuing issue of Africa's energy poverty - and how to switch this challenge into an opportunity.
Over half a billion people have no electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, thanks to entities like the UAE's Zayed Sustainability Prize - the global award for sustainability - there is great potential to tackle this problem from the ground level up.
As former prize winners, Bboxx recognises the UAE's efforts to create and amplify local and global solutions that work towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, especially as the country prepares to host COP28 in November.
The efforts embody Africa Climate Week's key theme of accelerating global collaboration and collective action for a just transition to a renewable energy-powered future.
Bottom-up approaches harness local knowledge and capabilities to create solutions. To accelerate the global clean economy, we need to learn from people at the front line of climate change - experiencing severe weather conditions, displacement from their homes, or failing crop resilience.
These are the people who can and must overcome adversity, transform their lives and unlock their potential using leapfrogging technologies to build an inclusive climate transition.
At Bboxx, we have seen how rural and urban households and businesses are leading the way in choosing clean and data-powered solutions for their utilities and services. Solar powered homes, clean cooking, water pumps, e-mobility and smartphones, and using digital payments - which are a crucial part of the leapfrogging services and infrastructure enabling this change. Yet, the availability of such solutions is still hindered in limited, overly centralised investment into the continent.
For instance, in rural Togo, the prize supported Bboxx's efforts to connect over 100,000 homes to solar energy, giving families safe, clean access to electricity from which they can study or earn additional income. To achieve this, strategic partnerships with non-profits like the Zayed Sustainability Prize, investors, companies, governments, and community leaders have all been critical.
Local action with international support holds the key to addressing global challenges. As we work towards a fair, inclusive, and just transition to a clean economy, it has never been more crucial. We have witnessed power of locally driven solutions in transforming communities and catalysing local economic activity.
Our more than 10 years' experience transforming lives and unlocking potential by connecting consumers and deploying innovative products across Africa through our data-driven super platform.
Our mission is to transform lives through clean energy and connectivity underpinned by smart financing to enable the broadest access. Our collective efforts can and will lead to more just, inclusive, and sustainable future that our planet demands.
-Writer is co-founder and CEO of Bboxx
