June 2020 Newsletter

Statement on the Passing of Clean Cooking Advocate Kirk Smith

We are deeply saddened by the passing of the highly respected professor, researcher, mentor, and passionate clean cooking advocate Kirk Smith. Prof. Smith conducted pioneering research on the impacts of household air pollution. His work formed the foundation of our sector, and his tireless advocacy for the health and wellbeing of women and children in the developing world has had lasting impacts far and wide. Read more.

From the Alliance

Alliance Publishes 2019 Annual Report

The Alliance released its 2019 Annual Report, highlighting progress and accomplishments of the Alliance and its partners last year.

Alliance Selects Portfolio Companies for Industry Acceleration Program

A diverse portfolio of 33 companies, operating mainly in Africa, will be supported by the Alliance’s new Venture Catalyst program.

Alliance Announces Development of a Clean Cooking Sector Strategy

The Alliance recently launched a sector-wide strategy development process to accelerate universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030.

Alliance Launches New Series Featuring Clean Cooking Women Entrepreneurs

In a new series featuring 2019 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalists, the Alliance spoke with Esther Altorfer, Managing Director of East Africa for Sistema.bio, about how she and her sales team are expanding access to biogas during COVID-19.

Turning Simple Stoves High-Tech: An Interview with Jet-Flame Developers ASAT and SSM

In its most recent CEO Interview Series piece, the Alliance talked with the CEOs of Advanced Studies in Appropriate Technology Lab and the Zhejiang Huiwenmei Stove Company about their long partnership and the jointly-developed Jet-Flame, a new accessory that improves combustion in wood-burning stoves.

COVID-19, Cooking, and the Displaced

Widespread reliance on polluting open fires and inefficient stoves may reduce displaced peoples’ chances of recovering from COVID-19. The humanitarian community can use this opportunity to “build back better” on cooking and energy access.

Clean Cooking Makes for Happier Cooks: One Woman’s Story from Ghana

Led by World Education, Inc. and supported by the Alliance, the Integrated School Kitchen Improvement Project provided cleaner cooking solutions to schools across Ghana, enabling them to transition from polluting, inefficient stoves and fuels to cleaner, more modern cooking technologies.

From the Sector

SEforALL Report Shows African Countries How Clean Energy Investment Can Boost Pandemic Recovery

A new guide by Sustainable Energy for All shows how clean energy investment can support countries to “Recover Better”, and use this unique moment to reset their economies and close energy access gaps.

Responses Requested For New Sector Survey

To give investors, governments, and donors the insights they need to develop effective response and recovery strategies, a group of energy sector partners including the Alliance are seeking responses to the new Energy Access Industry Barometer. The survey should take less than 10 minutes and can be accessed in English, Spanish, and French.

Netherlands Enterprise Agency Selects 12 Companies for Results-Based Financing

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has selected 12 companies to join its SDG 7 Results Facility. This program offers results-based financing for organizations aiming to expand their markets with basic energy services for more remote or poorer customers in developing countries.

Acumen Looks to Reinvest Capital After Successful Exit from KopaGas

Following Circle Gas’ $25-million acquisition of KopaGas in January, the impact investment fund Acumen has exited its early-stage investment in the Tanzanian pay-as-you-go cooking gas company. As Acumen turns to reinvesting the returned capital in the next high-potential clean cooking innovation, it has announced a new partnership with the Modern Energy Cooking Services Programme.

EnDev Releases Findings from COVID-19 Market Survey

EnDev conducted a COVID-19 market survey of some 700 small- and medium-sized businesses across 23 countries. The results show that companies across the off-grid sector have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

Women Leaders Call For Action in Response to COVID-19

An opinion piece by Dymphna van der Lans (Clean Cooking Alliance), Sheila Oparaocha and Elizabeth Cecelski (ENERGIA), Rabia Ferroukhi (IRENA), Irene Giner-Reichl (GWNET), Monica Maduekwe (ECREEE), Ajaita Shah (Frontier Markets) calls for gender equality in COVID-19 response measures to build back better.

New Report on “Tracking SDG 7” Shows State of Clean Cooking Access

The “Energy Progress Report for 2020” highlights global clean cooking access prior to the start of the COVID-19 crisis.

New Report: Uptake of Electric Pressure Cookers in Tanzania Leads to Quality of Life Improvements

The Efficiency for Access Coalition partnered with PowerGen Renewable Energy to conduct and evaluate a small-scale electric pressure cooker pilot in rural Tanzania, finding that the appliance leads to significant quality of life improvements for customers.

Funding Opportunities:

COVID-19 Energy Access Relief Fund
This EUR 100 million targeted concessionary debt fund seeks to enable off-grid energy companies in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia to both maintain their customers’ existing energy services and retain the staff required to deliver future services to these customers.

GET.invest COVID-19 Finance Catalyst Window
GET.invest has opened a COVID-19 window within its Finance Catalyst to provide business and project developers with free-of-cost advisory to help navigate the crisis.

Action Programme to Address the 1.5˚C Challenge
The objective of the “Action Programme to Address the 1.5˚C Challenge” is to assist and encourage countries that wish to increase their efforts to tackle climate change and air pollution in an integrated way and to enhance action on SLCPs in their national emissions management programs and strategies.

Intervention Strategies to Remove Barriers to Women’s Entrepreneurship
This call for expression of interest is to support Geres in defining gender strategies for their women entrepreneurship interventions.

Global Distributors Collective Innovation Challenge
This unique challenge crowdsources innovations from members, helps pilot the best ideas, and supports the broader last-mile distribution community to replicate and learn from those innovations.

Small and Growing Business Fund
GroFin, in partnership with Shell Foundation, KfW, Dutch Good Growth Fund, and Norfund, is receiving applications for its Small and Growing Business Fund, totaling over US $100 million.

Learn more from the Alliance Funding Opportunities page here.

Job Opportunities:

Now Hiring: Multiple Vacancies – Private Sector & Investment Team
The Alliance is hiring one or two Manager/Senior Manager or Associate Director/Director-level positions based in sub-Saharan Africa.

Now Hiring: Manager, Standards & Testing
The Alliance is hiring a Manager of Standards and Testing to join its Evidence and Impact team. This role will focus on refining and executing the Alliance’s standards and testing strategy, including designing projects and budgets, ensuring coordination with external partners, and integrating this work.

Now Hiring: Manager, Research
The Alliance is hiring a Manager of Research to join its Evidence and Impact team to lead the Alliance’s work on applying evidence to the design of program implementation and translating research to support policy, advocacy, investment, and business decisions.

Now Hiring: Consultant for Family Leave Coverage, Monitoring & Evaluation
The Alliance is hiring a full-time consultant with monitoring and evaluation expertise to provide six months of family leave coverage, starting in July 2020. This position sits within the Evidence & Impact team of the Alliance.

Learn more from the Alliance Job Opportunities page here.