The Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO) programme has committed over £2 million in catalytic grant funding for its fourth round, supporting diverse innovative business models across sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen companies have been selected through a competitive open call, each focused on harnessing clean energy and driving a just, inclusive energy transition throughout the region.
This latest round of funding builds on a wider package of support that PREO has committed since its inception, having awarded over £5.94m to 34 companies across 11 sub-Saharan African countries, creating 467 jobs. The programme is backed by the IKEA Foundation and UK aid via the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, in partnership with the Carbon Trust and Mercy Corps’ Energy 4 Impact.
“With this latest round, PREO reaffirms its role as the only dedicated platform for testing business models that focus on the productive use of renewable energy. The selected innovations have the potential to transform sectors by delivering first-time clean energy access to businesses and institutions,” said Richa Goyal, Programme Manager at the IKEA Foundation.
According to Rhiannon Turner, PREO Programme Lead at the Carbon Trust, the latest line-up of new companies will be supported over the next phase of PREO. “As demonstrated by the breadth of sectors and technologies represented there is an enormous opportunity to prove the viability of business models that will help drive income creation and improve livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa,” Turner told Africa Science News.
More than 240 applications meeting the call’s core criteria were submitted from 29 countries, equating to a total funding request 17 times greater than was available. This response underlines the substantial demand for funding to support and scale innovative business models that drive the adoption of renewable energy solutions.
With each company receiving between £86,000 and £237,000 across 1-2 years, along with technical support, PREO is supporting the development of business models that showcase the viability of Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) in agri-processing, cooling, solar irrigation, e-waste recycling, e-mobility, healthcare, and education.
Highlighted initiatives in this phase include a Ugandan supplier of solar-powered agricultural equipment that enhances productivity for smallholder farmers through solar irrigation solutions, and Tanzania’s AG Energies, which offers a battery-swapping service for electric tuk-tuks and motorcycles.
Others include Senegal’s Jokosun which improves operations for local anglers in by providing hubs for charging and distributing batteries for electric boats, Chaji of Kenya which is installing fast EV chargers in commercial centres and developing financing options for electric three-wheelers in Nairobi and Mombasa and Nigeria’s Hinckley E-Waste which develops second-life batteries to power telecom towers, reducing reliance on diesel generators in Nigeria.
This phase of PREO funding aligns with a broader mission to foster climate resilience, economic development, and job creation in sub-Saharan Africa. By taking strategic risks on innovative companies, PREO scales impactful initiatives and enables businesses to leverage clean energy technologies, improve livelihoods, and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
PREO is supported by the IKEA Foundation and UK aid via the Transforming Energy Access platform, delivered by the Carbon Trust and Mercy Corps Energy 4 Impact. Since 2019, the programme has made significant contributions to advancing productive use of renewable energy, and its latest report ‘Powering Prosperity: The socio-economic benefits of the productive use of renewable energy (PURE) in Africa’ highlights the impact of these interventions.