Delivering on the Promise of Distributed Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose of Review This review of distributed renewable energy (DRE) entrepreneurship analyzes the market demand and unique market characteristics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that drive technology-enabled DRE entrepreneurial solutions through innovative business models. It further examines how policy and regulatory challenges need to be overcome for scale and impact. Findings The unmet energy demand in SSA provides significant opportunities for DRE entrepreneurs to complement and/or substitute grid-based systems through renewable energy solutions. The characteristics of DRE solutions such as affordability, modularity, flexibility, and sustainability endow competitive advantages in small-scale price-sensitive market segments especially in rural and remote settings. The viability and scalability of business models in the DRE sectors are highly dependent on a conducive policy and regulatory-enabling environment. Summary DRE entrepreneurs are disrupting energy markets by combining technologies in renewable energy, energy efficiency, mobile payment, and data management systems to meet energy demand especially in price-sensitive, rural and remote markets.