Reducing energy poverty: the beyond the grid fund for Zambia
Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia is notable for the scale and speed with which it has provided clean solar electricity. In the space of 4 years the programme has provided 168,000 households, or 875,810 people who mostly live in lower income rural or semi-rural areas of Zambia with clean electricity, one quarter of whom are female-headed households. As well as reducing energy poverty and carbon emissions, the programme has generated multiple health, economic and social co-benefits. Scale has been achieved via targeted market transformation policies to incentivise and remove barriers to the provision of clean and affordable energy including the use of asocial procurement fund. The related improvements in health and incomes can also help increase people’s resilience to future health or economic shocks.
