Engineers can fill gaps in the global response to climate change through research, design and advocacy rooted in systems thinking, one thought leader says Itoro Atakpa, Founder of GreenOrg Strategies.

“Engineers for change can bridge the gaps to support climate action and drive resilience by undertaking community-level research, building inclusive design, and developing local-level innovations that are scalable and replicable,” Ms. Atakpa said in a recent presentation to the Engineering for Change Fellowship discussing the roles engineers can take in support of the work to mitigate disaster.

Read More: How Engineers Can Engage More Effectively in Public Policy

Engineers trained in systems thinking may recognize Ms. Atakpa’s birdseye perspective. Climate change impacts are interconnected to the water-energy-food nexus, she says. For example, water is needed to grow food, support livestock, and cool power plants. Also, how we farm affects the availability of water and agriculture. Therefore, being aware of where vulnerabilities lie and understanding who we want to design for and what kind of impacts products will have is crucial, Ms. Atakpa says.

Moreover, engineers can design replicable technologies, conduct large-scale research studies on technical innovations, deploy large-scale technology, and engage with policymakers. In doing so, engineers mitigate the most severe risk factors associated with climate change, Ms. Atakpa says.

Engineers can also mitigate the climate impacts of a product in various stages of production. For instance, in raw materials extraction, engineers can reduce impact by recycling to lessen the need for new materials; implement precision mining to reduce energy use; and use renewable energy to mine or acquire new materials to power some extraction operations. In manufacturing, they can use energy-efficient machinery and manufacturing to lower energy consumption.

Above all, Ms. Atakpa encouraged the engineers to be creative. And they should consider ways to mitigate feedback loops so that climate change doesn’t spiral, Ms. Atakpa says.

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How do you navigate the different priorities of stakeholders trying to change the built environment? What can engineering students do to contribute? Can sustainable construction techniques in Africa be applied in other countries? Dr. Rue Munemo at EPFL’s Centre for Worldwide Sustainable Construction took these questions and others following her Engineering for Change seminar, Pathways Toward Sustainable Construction in Africa. Time ran out on the Q&A, but Dr. Munemo emailed her responses to the questions she missed.

Here we present Dr. Munemo’s answers to your questions, lightly edited for print. And if you’d like to see more, find highlight clips from the presentation at the seminar’s page below.

E4C Seminar | Pathways Toward Sustainable Construction in Africa

 

Q: Would you talk a little bit about how you navigate the priorities of different stakeholders in terms of trying to actually get changes into the built environment? People like homeowners, sustainability organizations, government, etc.

RM: I love that question so much, because it touches on a lot of the work we do. Regardless of how you look at it, the built environment itself is complex. To introduce sustainability, you’re actually trying to tell people how to live their lives. When you look at someone like a cement producer who owns their own business, the last thing they may care about is the environment. They’re more concerned about their business surviving. And same thing for the end user; their main concern may be that they want the cement, and they’re not thinking about how it is produced.

It’s not really about forcing ideologies on people, but understanding their stances and delivering them what they need wrapped up in sustainability and resilience. You wrap it up in all their needs. You tell them, sure, you care about they care about, but if they could do it differently, at the end of the day, it’s sustainable. It’s resilient. We have to be conscientious in trying to discover solutions that include the goals of the stakeholders, because they do exist.

Problems arise when people are not trying to localize their solutions. It is a problem when someone says, ‘This worked in America, so we want to do it here.’ You have to remember, the needs for a house in in Zimbabwe are different from the needs for a house in America. You have to think about these things, because no matter what, it’s about contextualizing. That’s how you navigate this entire chaotic field.

Q: Would reducing construction equipment emissions help? Tractors, generators, pumps, delivery vans, etc.? 

RM: Emissions of construction equipment are intrinsically included in the embodied emissions as a key part of processes. Attention is given to these factors with electrification of certain equipment being the main leverage point.

However, electrification is only helpful in reducing emissions if the electricity grid or supply is from a renewable source. Otherwise, the emissions are just shifted from being direct to indirect. There is plenty of merit in this, but the emissions from material extraction and production far exceeds the emissions of the equipment so for greater impact in reduction, that is why my presentation focuses more on the material and design side, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where electrification of construction equipment requires a bit more infrastructural elements to be put in place.

Q: How should we engage policymakers? 

RM: I believe there is great opportunity in engaging policymakers. Particularly, building codes and regulations in most countries are outdated and do not adequately reflect the current sustainability challenges or the potential of innovative materials. By collaborating with policymakers, industry professionals can advocate for updated standards that recognize the environmental and structural benefits of masonry and other sustainable materials.

This can include evidence-based policy briefs, pilot projects demonstrating performance, and partnerships with research institutions to build a strong case for reform. Such engagement can lead to more flexible and forward-looking regulations that encourage sustainable construction practices and reduce the environmental footprint of the built environment.

Q: In your experience, what roles can environmental NGOs play in strengthening sustainable construction roadmaps, and which of these roles do you find most valuable?

RM: I believe that NGOs are key in Africa especially in identifying the gaps that typically would be filled by local governments/public sector and mobilising resources, expertise, and community engagement to address specific challenges in sustainable construction. By leveraging their local knowledge, networks, and flexibility, NGOs can work complementary to governmental efforts, pushing initiatives that the government may not have capacity to advance on their own.

Q: I am interested in finding out how cement and other construction materials are being used in more African countries.

RM: There are quite a few articles that explore the use and choice of construction materials in Africa. The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa has a good number of resources on this and case studies.

Q: I find the assessment that water security is ranked lowest on the priority of householders entirely unrealistic. 

RM: My earlier point may not have been clear. It is not that people disregard water security; rather, many are compelled by circumstance to pursue self-construction in the absence of basic services such as electricity, water, sewage, or roads. In many such areas, households rely on boreholes, wells, or other personal water sources. Therefore, the issue is less about a lack of concern for water security and more about limited access and constrained options. Without a doubt, resilience is, and rightfully should be a priority for both sectors

Q: What do you think engineering students can do to contribute? And what can professors do to contribute? Because it’s very inspiring to hear what you’re working on.

RM: So that’s probably my favorite question. Starting with students, the most important thing now is shaping the up-and-coming engineers to come out of their degree programs with an understanding of sustainability. Sustainability is actually just a part of construction if we want the environment to work long term for everyone involved in it.

As engineers, we know a lot of things about, say, safety factors. I’m a structural engineer and I love my safety factors. But, if prior to all this research, someone had asked me, ‘How do you choose a sustainable material?’ That’s not something that you’re equipped with from the get-go.

We need to start presenting students with an understanding that they’re not in isolated fields. It’s not like a civil engineer will just be working with other civil engineers forever. You have to interact with the designer, the contractors and others. Architects need to understand that when you design a building, it shouldn’t be just for the aesthetics, but rather, how can you efficiently design that building to be more sustainable to construct for everyone involved in that process. That shouldn’t be up to the students to learn on their own. That’s up to the professors that design the courses. So it’s an interconnected link.

At the moment, I’d say attending webinars like this is quite good for engineers. And if you’re interested and would like to get in touch with me, we’re always looking to find people on the ground that are studying, that are working in Africa, to ensure that any work that we do, any ideas that we’re coming up with, are grounded in what people need. And the more people you’re connected to, the more you’re able to ensure that we are actually co-creating a good and sustainable built environment.

Q: We’re looking at built environment Africa, but this is a question that has global implications, right? What is your vision for the built environment everywhere?

RM: Yeah, so we actually do work in Asia as well. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are some cultural similarities between the different countries, even though they are all still very different. But what we’re seeing in Southeast Asia specifically is they are in a transition point. Their economies are shifting and some there’s a bit more advancement in the technology and the use of concrete in  a lot of these countries.

One of the other differences between Southeast Asia and Africa is the climate and the style of housing. So it’s things like that, where the minute the style changes, then you have to rethink what kind of materials are more aligned. The approach is similar, but the people and their needs can change. The one thing we all understand, though, is with developing countries, you don’t really have control of all facets.

 

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The Engineering for Change Seminar Series features academic laboratories researching solutions to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The world’s cutting edge research deserves a platform with a global audience. Join us for presentations of new findings from investigative teams around the globe.

Researchers, we welcome your applications to take part in the series. Please send an email to editor@engineeringforchange.org.

The post Your Questions Answered About Sustainable Construction in Africa appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Take the Energy Transition Quiz below!

If the energy transition is sustainable why is it so expensive? Which renewable resource has the most potential to scale up quickly? Do microgrids reduce emissions? What do you think of green hydrogen? These questions and more streamed in as the clock ran down on the question-and-answer session following our webinar The Shift to Clean Energy, with Stanford’s Dr. Diana Gragg. Dr. Gragg was kind enough to send written responses by email, however.

Dr. Gragg is the Managing Director of Stanford University’s Explore Energy program and she leads Stanford’s Understand Energy and Integrative Design for Radical Energy Efficiency Learning Hubs, which provide free energy education to the public.

Here she answers questions from people all over the world, both by email and her verbal responses during the Q&A. See the webinar page for details and clips from the presentation.

When you’ve browsed the Q&A, take the Energy Transition Quiz at the end!

Q: What global agencies exist for regulating the equitable extraction, processing and consumption of energy resources?

A: There isn’t one global regulatory agency for this. Players in this space include the WHO, UN, World Bank, etc. Some countries have regional agreements or agreements between countries that try to address portions of this, but mostly it is done country by country – so a lot of variability on how well this is done.

Q: If energy transition is considered a sustainable solution, why is it so expensive? What aspects of this process make up most of the cost?

A: Expensive is relative!  Fossil fuels enjoy a long history of a variety of subsidies, both implicit and explicit. (Examples of subsidies include countries that subsidize domestic production of oil for energy security goals or being able to emit carbon dioxide without paying for the impacts of climate change). So to address the underlying question you’re asking – we first would have to price in the externalities of the use of energy resources to truly talk about how expensive one form is compared to another.

Generally speaking, I think we do a pretty poor job of incorporating externalities like air pollution, land use, water pollution, human health impacts, etc., into the private cost of energy resources, so the private costs are artificially low and the true costs are born by society. However, even with this uneven playing field, solar and wind energy are the cheapest form of new electricity in 2/3rds of the world by population. Another aspect to think about when you want to talk about cost is to think about “to whom” is it expensive.

Back to the fossil fuel example, the cost of the health burden on certain communities isn’t born by the private actor who is utilizing, for example, diesel for their car and getting the benefit for the energy service. So you can see how complicated this landscape really is when you start looking at it from a systems perspective.

Q: Among the renewable resources (solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, geothermal), which one has the most potential for rapid expansion in the next decade?

A: I’d first say I don’t like to make predictions, because humans have a history of underestimating the potential for growth and change! But with that caveat:

• I’d expect solar to keep growing at a breakneck pace because it is modular and getting cheaper
• I’m excited about the prospect of the growth of geothermal because of technology advancements in that space – but it still faces high upfront costs and permitting barriers that make it challenging. It’s definitely an area I’m watching!
• Hydro is going to get even tougher because climate change is changing our weather patterns (more droughts, moving where rain occurs) – so it’s harder to invest in a large scale hydro facility when the water might not be available in a decade. Some countries like Costa Rica that depend heavily on hydro are already experiencing the challenges of water shortages on their power system.

Demand for electricity is going to grow in the next decade – so there is some question about how fast renewable resources can grow, and will they continue to grow faster than electricity demand (in other words, will they just be additive or will they actually replace existing fossil fuel resources). It will be something to watch.

Q: What do you think of hydrogen production from electrolysis? And hydrogen fuel cells as a clean-energy solution?

A: I used to work for the chemical industry in a chlorine production facility, and we make chlorine in basically the same way (only you’re using an electrolyzer on salt water instead of fresh water). Hydrogen was one of the by-products. Just to say I have some experience in this space.

It will depend on the use of the hydrogen, whether it can be economical, because different markets will have different price points. I think the biggest potential for green hydrogen (electrolysis by renewables) as a tool for decarbonization are in industry and as long-term energy storage.

In industry, green hydrogen can replace natural gas for many high temperature processes. However, without some sort of regulation or a price on carbon, green hydrogen will have a tough time competing with natural gas, so there needs to be some policy push to encourage industry to make the switch. Decarbonized steel manufacturing, for example, is looking into using green hydrogen.

Long-term (seasonal) energy storage is another possible use-case for green hydrogen (make hydrogen with excess solar PV in the summer, use it in the winter to make electricity through a fuel cell). But costs need to come way down, and electricity markets need to be updated to properly value this type of energy storage and the service it provides to support renewable integration and grid reliability.

I do not see a lot of potential for hydrogen as a transportation fuel in the personal vehicle market. Batteries have really beat it out. It sill has some potential in long-range heavy-duty road transport or shipping (likely as a carrier like ammonia, not as hydrogen/fuel cell), but the “winner” remains to be seen. Batteries could still end up dominating those spaces too, depending on advancements in range and charge time and weight.

Q: Do microgrids help to reduce energy usage and emissions?

A: Not necessarily, it depends what makes up the microgrid and how it is used. A microgrid that is connected to a large scale grid, but can decouple if the larger grid goes down, can help improve reliability of the grid for the area covered by the microgrid (something that towns in California are investigating to be more resilient to wildfire risk / grid loss).

If a microgrid is made up of renewables and batteries, then it is a zero-emission option that would reduce emissions compared to a fossil-fueled system. However, microgrids can also be made up of fossil-fueled sources like diesel generators, so they’re not inherently cleaner.

Q: Is there any growth in the biogas / biomethane space? Do you think it’s something valuable to drive investment into?

A: Biogas needs to be able to compete with natural gas to truly see growth. That comes with driving down the costs of biogas and incorporating more of the externalities into the private cost of natural gas (like a carbon tax).

Biogas made from waste materials like manure, municipal solid waste or human sewage is a good resource because of its co-benefits (reducing smells, it gets created anyway so we might as well use it for energy instead of just venting it, capturing and using it reduces air pollution, etc). However, it can be hard to make these systems scalable and economic.

The flip side—burning biomass (even a relatively clean form like biogas)—is still burning things for energy, with the associated greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Biogas is a much cleaner-burning fuel than solid biomass, but still has emissions.

So, in short, I think it’s a challenging space. We should make use of waste streams to create biogas. I don’t think we should be utilizing food crops to create biogas (or any biomass-based resource).

We have more on the website about biomass and biofuels (which biogas is a type of biofuel) if you want to dig in more!

Q: From a systemic change perspective, how can we accelerate the adoption of frameworks that bring together integrative design, efficient energy systems, and carbon markets? And what measurements or indicators should we prioritize to track real progress in the shift to clean energy? For example, in ASEAN markets perhaps.

A; This is a great question! Something we work on a lot in the School of Sustainability at Stanford is SPEED and SCALE. Just like your question.

My efforts for this center around education, how we can we disseminate the information in ways to make it easy for people to learn it and use it everywhere. This is just one piece. Policy, grassroots, consulting, etc., all of these are areas that need to be involved to scale the adoption of these frameworks.

Amory Lovins has been working on spreading the word on integrative design and energy efficient systems for decades – and has made a lot of progress – but there is always more to do.

The ultimate measurements or indicators depend on the context, but include things like how many humans have safe and secure energy access, are we seeing reductions in the mortality from air pollution from our energy system / energy services, are we seeing a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

Q: Which skills should today’s engineering students develop if they want to work in the global clean energy sector in the next 5–10 years?

A: There are SO MANY, this is tough to say. We need it all. Much of the work is on the implementation side—project management, systems thinking, integrative design, energy efficiency—all of these skills are needed in this sector.

There are also technical skills needed in particular spaces, like:

• Geothermal has some challenges that still need technical solutions, including understanding and imaging the subsurface better
• Battery chemistry needs to continue to evolve to be lighter, more energy dense, less precious metals, more sustainably sourced, better recycling systems
• The built environment will continue to grow significantly, so there is a lot of need for civil engineering and integrative design / energy-efficiency skills in that space
• Land-use planning for the built environment with the transportation sector will need to be integrated in smarter ways, etc, etc, etc.

I’d say develop skills you find interesting and inspire you, and those skills can be used for these clean energy transitions. We like to say any job is a sustainability job.

Q: If we are considering the electrification of everything as a form of optimizing energy efficiency, what would be the best feasible source of the electric energy, considering that most of the electricity is produced from fossil fuels that are exacerbating climate change?

A: We have so many options for electricity. This is one of the advantages—diversifying our options! Wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear, hydro, etc. We don’t want to pick just one, we want a diversity of options.

In the past decade, we’ve been implementing renewable energy faster than we’ve grown electricity demand, so we’ve been decarbonizing our electricity system already. The question is whether we can maintain that pace with the expected growth in electricity demand.

Q: Do you see thin film solar cells increasing in popularity in low-income communities in the future and what limitations are associated with its implementation?

A: Today’s thin film solar cells are more likely to be used at the utility scale than in communities. That’s because they’re less efficient per area, and when you’re looking at solar production on homes or buildings, you want to maximize the amount of electricity production you can get for your roof area. In other words, you’re space-limited, so you want the most efficient solar cells. The efforts for building-integrated solar are still ongoing, but pretty small scale. They tend to be less efficient and more expensive, so they just aren’t competitive yet.

At the utility scale, usually you have plenty of space, so thin film makes more sense. Thin film also tend to maintain their efficiency better when they get hot – great for large scale solar projects.

Q: How will the extractive industries have to change to provide the minerals and natural resources we need for the energy transition?

A: There are so many ways they should change, including reducing the negative impacts on the environment and on people. Extraction will have to increase, so it should be done in the most responsible way possible.

The minerals and other natural resources we need are going to evolve over time as technologies change. Thinking of batteries, for example, different chemistries are being explored that would require less precious metals or lower impact materials (like iron-air, for example).

Q: What role do you see carbon markets and renewable financing playing in accelerating the adoption of clean energy globally?

A: I would say these are big players. Carbon markets less so, I think. I would go check out Stripe or Frontier, where they’re doing voluntary carbon markets and really trying to drive capital and investment to carbon.

If you had asked me 20 years ago when I really started working in this space, I would have said, Oh my gosh, carbon capture is just so expensive. We have so many other options. I think now we’re just so far into the climate challenge that we can’t ignore some of these more expensive options. Even things like direct air capture, which is kind of the hardest from a chemical engineering standpoint. You know, the air is about 0.04% CO2. That’s a really hard separation challenge in order to get that carbon out of air. And if we’re successful, then it’ll just get even harder. But I would say that we’re already seeing the impacts from climate change and we have to look at everything we can do.

So those are really important. Whether it’s government or private, investing is going to be different in terms of accelerating that adoption in all places all over the world.

Q: Recently Kenya launched the National REDD+ registry, becoming the first African country to establish a centralized system for tracking carbon credits and deforestation reduction projects. How does such a registry strengthen climate resilience in the face of climate risks? And how do carbon credit ratings help ensure funding supports high-impact projects that drive emission reduction and sustainable development?

A: First, before I answer your question, I want to say that Kenya has also done some amazing things in geothermal. The biggest challenge with geothermal is the upfront drilling to find the resource. That’s the capital-intensive part, the most expensive part and the most risky part. It’s the part that is challenging for private investors. And Kenya has done an amazing job at de-risking that upfront part. They’ve done a lot of the exploration themselves and then made that available to developers. Kenya’s geothermal industry is growing right now in terms of their geothermal facilities, and it provides a substantial portion of their electricity.

(Back to the question), one of the great things Kenya is doing is they have centralized tracking for carbon credits and deforestation. Transparency helps with decision making. And if we’re talking about externalities, we need to talk about what those externalities are. Even if you’re not pricing them in, you have to have a way of recognizing them in order for you to measure the impact of of those in decision-making. If they’re trusted, carbon credit ratings can really drive investment toward things that reduce emissions, because now you have a measure of externalities from our fossil fuels. In a lot of places worldwide it’s free to emit carbon. And if it’s free, people aren’t going to invest in carbon reduction. So there has to be some way of highlighting it, forcing it, costing it, in something like that to drive that investment.

Q: What makes renewable energy the cheapest in most of the world, while in Africa it’s very expensive?

A: Yeah. So this is a great question. In most of the world, and I have a chart on it, solar and wind are the cheapest. Obviously not everywhere, though. In some places hydro is going to be more cost effective. You can do it at scale. And a lot of it depends on how you’re pricing in the cost of electricity production.

We see in a levelized cost analysis that solar and wind are cheapest in most of the world. But there are other factors that come into that, and it can depend on availability, transportation, how robust the electricity system is, etc. All of those things are challenges that people, government and private actors, are dealing with.

 

The post Your Questions About the Energy Transition Answered appeared first on Engineering For Change.

At the Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town this year, energy leaders from across the continent gathered to discuss sustainable energy as one of the continent’s greatest opportunities. The talks centered on building reliable, equitable and sustainable energy systems. Among the voices shaping these conversations was Nancy Wangari, a Project Engineer specializing in energy infrastructure in East Africa, notably the Menengai Geothermal Power Plant. A 2024 E4C Fellow and now a 2025 Managing Fellow, Ms. Wangari attended the Forum as a sponsored delegate, bringing her engineering experience to that international forum.

In this interview, Ms. Wangari reflects on what stood out to her, from the rise of hybrid mini-grids and waste-to-energy innovations, to the critical role of cross-border collaboration and public-private partnerships. She also shares candid insights on the challenges engineers face in balancing technical excellence with social impact, and why Africa’s energy transition must chart its own path rather than replicate global models.

“Africa does not need copied blueprints; it needs creative solutions that work with local materials, and limited infrastructure. Young engineers are already contributing by building solar irrigation kits, pay-as-you-go metering platforms, and productive-use technologies. The challenge is not talent,” Ms. Wangari said.

This is a lightly edited version of her views on the forum and the state of sustainable energy development in Africa.

E4C: What were your takeaways from the forum?

NW: The forum highlighted how central energy is to nearly every development challenge on the continent. From electrification gaps in rural areas to grid instability in urban centers, the conversations underscored that energy access is a precondition for social progress and economic transformation. What stood out most was the growing emphasis on systems thinking. Rather than viewing energy in isolation, stakeholders are increasingly framing it as part of a wider ecosystem that encompasses finance, governance, climate, and community livelihoods. The convergence of actors—governments, private firms, financiers, and civil society—showed how complex, but also how possible, coordinated progress can be.

E4C: Were there standout projects that caught your attention?

NW: A few projects were compelling. Hybrid mini-grids designed for scalability in off-grid areas have matured technically and are being implemented in more countries. Innovations in distributed battery storage are also reducing dependence on inconsistent grid supply. I was also drawn to emerging work on clean cooking and waste-to-energy systems that use locally available materials. These technologies are not headline-grabbing, but they are directly relevant to the day-to-day energy realities of African households. At the Youth Energy Summit, some of these solutions were being developed by early-stage ventures already piloting them in rural settings, which made the discussions far more grounded.

E4C: How did the forum shape your perspective on Africa’s sustainable energy transition?

NW: It confirmed that Africa’s transition must be about more than just switching fuels. It is a structural transformation. Energy access needs to be universal, affordable, and sustainable, but it must also reflect the continent’s social and economic context. The summit challenged the idea that Africa should simply follow existing global energy pathways. Instead, it made clear that we need to create our models—ones that prioritize equity, reliability, and resilience. For me, it deepened the understanding that energy systems are not just technical grids; they are also political, cultural, and economic infrastructures.

E4C: How are engineers addressing the challenge of balancing energy access with decarbonization?

NW: There is growing attention to contextual design; the phrase I kept hearing was “fit-for-context.” Engineers are building modular systems that work at small scales and can expand as demand grows. Many are also integrating climate resilience into system design by considering water scarcity, land degradation, or grid fragility. There are efforts to bridge technical design with user-centered insights, especially where systems interface directly with communities. However, access to quality data and design tools remains uneven. Some of the most impactful work is being done where engineers are collaborating across disciplines, combining infrastructure with insights from energy economics, policy, and even anthropology.

E4C: How important is cross-border collaboration in achieving Africa’s sustainable energy goals?

NW: It is fundamental. Energy resources are unevenly distributed across the continent, while demand is rising everywhere. Effective cross-border infrastructure, like transmission lines and power pools, can improve reliability, drive down costs, and optimize resource use. Panels on initiatives like the Africa Single Electricity Market demonstrated the benefits of integrated planning, but also highlighted the political and regulatory complexities. Beyond technical infrastructure, collaboration is also needed in data sharing, harmonized standards, and capacity-building. It became clear that no country can build a resilient energy system in isolation.

E4C: What role do public-private partnerships play in scaling energy infrastructure?

NW: A critical one. I learned that most successful large-scale energy projects in Africa today are anchored in PPPs, especially those backed by Development Financial Institutions. But the structure of those partnerships matters a lot. Transparency, risk-sharing, and community involvement must be baked in from day one. The Forum (Africa Energy Summit) emphasized that governments alone can’t carry the financial burden of electrifying the continent. But when the private sector comes in, we need to ensure alignment with social and environmental priorities, not just profit.

E4C: How is sustainability being integrated into large-scale energy projects across the continent?

NW: Environmental and social considerations are becoming more prominent. Large-scale projects are now more likely to include sustainability assessments not only as compliance requirements but as design inputs. In some hydropower and solar projects, there is an effort to collaborate with communities through local job creation, benefit-sharing agreements, or ecological restoration. However, there remains variation in how rigorously sustainability is defined and enforced. Sustainability is being understood not only in environmental terms, but also through the lens of economic viability, governance, and long-term community acceptance.

E4C: What challenges do engineers face when designing for both environmental and social impact?

NW: Engineers often face pressure to deliver quickly and cost-effectively, which can conflict with more participatory or inclusive processes. Balancing technical soundness with social appropriateness is difficult when timelines are tight and funding is limited. In many cases, engineers are not trained in community engagement, and yet they are tasked with negotiating complex local dynamics. This gap is particularly visible in large infrastructure projects where failure to secure community buy-in has led to delays or even abandonment. One clear lesson from the summit is that technical excellence must be paired with listening and adaptability.

E4C: How can Africa ensure a just energy transition that includes marginalized communities?

NW: First is by beginning with access. Marginalized communities are often left out of national electrification plans or are last in line for upgrades. Policies must deliberately target these areas through subsidies for mini-grids, targeted financing for clean cooking solutions, and strong inclusion clauses in energy tenders. At the summit, it was encouraging to hear from initiatives that prioritize energy access as a tool for improving education, health, and livelihoods. Justice also means building local capacity, not just importing technology but enabling communities to maintain, own, and benefit from energy systems over time.

E4C: What trends do you foresee shaping Africa’s energy landscape over the next decade?

NW: We’re witnessing a dynamic shift marked by the expansion of decentralized energy systems, the scaling of energy-as-a-service models enabled by digital payments, and the growth of energy storage alongside local battery manufacturing. Regional power pools and infrastructure corridors are playing an increasingly strategic role, while emerging policy frameworks are linking energy access to broader development goals in agriculture, education, and health. Notably, youth-led clean energy ventures are gaining momentum, delivering scalable, context-relevant solutions in off-grid and peri-urban communities.

E4C: How can young engineers and innovators contribute meaningfully to the continent’s energy future?

NW: By designing for reality rather than replication. Africa does not need copied blueprints; it needs creative solutions that work with local materials, local knowledge, and limited infrastructure. Young engineers are already contributing by building solar irrigation kits, pay-as-you-go metering platforms, and productive-use technologies. The challenge is not talent, but access to mentorship, funding, and networks. Initiatives like the Youth Energy Summit show that with the right support, these innovators can build systems that are technically sound and socially rooted.

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The post “Africa Doesn’t Need Copied Blueprints…” A Conversation About Sustainable Energy with Nancy Wangari appeared first on Engineering For Change.

A graywater recycling system retrofit, wearable robotics for infant shoulder rehab and a reusable urine filter for diagnosing schistosomiasis are among the seven ventures selected for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) ISHOW Americas 2025. Three of the seven will go on to join the ISHOW accelerator as a part of the 2025 cohort chosen from ISHOW events in India, Kenya, and now the Americas.

ISHOW supports hardware-led solutions to global development challenges. The program focuses on early-stage ventures through a design and engineering review and its accelerator that offers mentorship, global networking, brand exposure and grants to prepare products for the market. ISHOW Americas will announce its three awardees during a virtual event on August 6^th at noon, Eastern Daylight Time. Interested? Register here.

This year’s ISHOW Americas ventures address challenges in energy access, public health, water purification, and inclusive technology. Introducing the ventures of ISHOW Americas 2025:

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BiliRoo (Portage, Mich., USA): A low-cost, non-electric infant jaundice treatment system that combines filtered sunlight phototherapy with skin-to-skin contact, usable in low-resource settings.

 

 

 

 

SchistoFilter, by Health In Your Hands Diagnostics (Houston, Texas, USA): A low-cost, reusable urine filter and diagnostic tool for collecting and identifying the eggs released from the Schistosoma haematobium parasite.

 

 

 

Cycleau, by LÆRO (Washington, D.C., USA): A compact graywater recycling system designed to retrofit under sinks and showers in aging buildings to recycle greywater while offering utility savings for low-income households.

 

 

 

 

OORB Open Organic Robotics (Sousse, Tunisia, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada): An open-source AI-native robotics development environment built on ROS2, leveraging modular hardware kits to facilitate greater access to and training about robotics systems for underserved students, researchers and engineers, including robotics design, simulation, deployment and control.

 

 

 

Raya Pod, by Raya Power (San Juan, Puerto Rico, and San Francisco, Calif., USA): A plug-and-play solar appliance designed to increase solar energy accessibility and affordability for lower-income households in North America to power essential loads.

 

 

 

DINA: Dynamic Infant Neurorehab Aid by Vianyumi (Baltimore, Md., USA): A soft robotic suit for shoulder range-of-motion rehabilitation therapy in newborns with brachial plexus palsy.

 

 

 

ClariWash Self-Washing Filtration System by WaterReach Ltd. (London, UK): A self-cleaning water purification system using clarification, filtration and disinfection to reduce water-borne diseases. It supports long-term access to safe water during disasters, and in remote and underserved areas.

 

 

ISHOW is supported by The Lemelson Foundation and other global partners. The program aims to ensure that physical products addressing social and environmental challenges are designed for scalability and sustainability. More than 250 ventures from over 35 countries have participated since the program’s launch.

To learn more, visit thisishardware.org.

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This organization, Engineering for Change, is a non-profit in the Engineering for Sustainable Development division of ASME. This article is based on a press release by ASME ISHOW. See the press release.

The post Rehab Robots, Solar Pods, and Graywater Retrofits: ISHOW Americas Selects Seven Ventures appeared first on Engineering For Change.

On a typical day along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, the majority of cars, motorcycles and matatu minibuses burn fossil fuels. There are a few electric motorcycles, tuk-tuks and buses, they electric vehicles (EVs) still represent less than 1 percent of the nation’s fleet. Registrations of EVs in Kenya are surging, however.

Kenya has been ranked 7th among the top 10 African countries adopting EVs, according to data from the International Energy Agency, as reported by Business Insider Africa.

Rising urban populations and fuel prices are pushing many African nations to invest in EVs as a cleaner, cost-effective alternative to fossil fuel transport. National policies—expected in over a dozen countries by 2025—are accelerating this shift through tax incentives, public transport pilots, and local manufacturing support.

According to the International Energy Agency, the top five countries leading EV adoption on the continent are Ghana, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. Ghana tops the list with an estimated 17,000 EVs, driven largely by duty waivers and widespread use of electric two- and three-wheelers. Morocco follows with 10,000 EVs and over 400 charging stations, bolstered by a growing export market. South Africa has around 6,000 EVs and has eliminated import duties, while Tanzania and Ethiopia each count between 5,000 to 7,000 vehicles, driven by electric bikes and tuk-tuks and hydropower-backed incentives, respectively.

Kenya earned its placement in the top 10 thanks to programs such as the launch of an electric bus pilot in Nairobi, and the country is one of several in Africa positioning themselves to become EV assembly hubs.

In March 2024, Kenya launched the National E-Mobility Policy meant to create an enabling environment for the growth and adoption of EVs across the country. The policy provides a framework for the transition from conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. The country went ahead and introduced several tax incentives including a reduction in the excise duty on electric vehicles from 20 percent to 10 percent  and the exemption of fully electric cars from value-added tax. By lowering the tax burden, the government wanted to ensure that EVs are more competitive than their petrol and diesel counterparts.

“Electric vehicles represent a high-tech industry with strong value potential—owners of EVs or e-motorbikes can earn profit margins of up to $700,” noted Mr. Latiff Cherono, Chief Operations Officer, Gearbox Europlacer. “Kenya can enhance its role in the EV space by increasing investment in research and development, rather than relying solely on imported knockdown kits for assembly.”

He added that the country should focus on developing its intellectual property, enhancing features such as payment systems and battery charging stations, and building local technical capacity. “To fully benefit, Africa must prioritize innovation to avoid dependency on foreign IP.”

The National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy set an ambitious target that by 2025, all the newly registered vehicles in Kenya should be EVs. But this has not been the case, as the adoption of electric vehicles in Kenya has been slow.

A slow pace has characterized the EV transition throughout the continent, and one of the roadblocks has been the technology, rather than the policy.

“Our results show that fleets will have to contain a mix of electric and combustion-based engines if countries want to continue to transport the same amount of goods and people they are currently transporting. This is because electric vehicles charge slowly,” MJ Booysen and Joubert Van Eeden at Stellenbosch University in South Africa write. “While a diesel minibus taxi takes only one minute to fill up with enough diesel to travel 750 kilometres, the fastest currently available electric minibus recharges at a mere 2km per minute with DC and 0.3km per minute with AC. The electric taxi’s range is also only 21 percent of the diesel equivalent.”

Read More: Electric Vehicles in Africa; What’s Needed to Grow the Sector

More charging stations can help and more are on the way. Kenya Power announced a plan to install 45 EV chargers in six counties in the next year. During the opening of the 3rd Annual E‑mobility Conference in Nairobi last month, Kenya Power Managing Director & CEO, Dr . Joseph Siror stated: “Part of our plan is to create an enabling environment for players within the e‑mobility ecosystem through the provision of adequate power supply and the requisite infrastructure, such as charging stations, that will enable motorists to travel with ease.”

It is clear that African Countries are gearing up for EV adoption. What is required is adequate infrastructure, an enabling policy environment and capacity building, technology transfer, and investment mobilization to achieve the goal.

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About the Author

Mercy Nduati is the Engineering for Change Editorial Fellow for 2025. She also works on the editorial staff of the Vennomax Media Network that publishes the Industrial Journal magazine. And she has written for the magazine Kenya Engineer, published by the Institution of Engineers in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media from Egerton University.

The post African Nations Power Up Their Shift to Electric Vehicles appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Development organizations have long struggled to measure evidence of systems change, especially when contributions are incremental and contexts vary. In today’s world, where we face the converging crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, ensuring access to safe and high-quality water and sanitation services is more challenging than ever. That’s why the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector has embraced system strengthening to build resilient service delivery models that consider all relevant actors, institutions, incentives, and dynamics.

Read more: Are One-Size-Fits-All Metrics for Global WASH Really Appropriate?

No single organization will solve the global water crisis or achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on its own. It will take innovation, collaboration and new ways of working. That’s the idea behind the One For All alliance, comprised of Water For People, IRC, and Water for Good, which developed a shared Destination 2030 (D30) strategy. This strategy is grounded in six outcomes for strong WASH systems:

1. High level political will accelerates progress
2. Key actors have adequate capacity
3. Sector finance is secured
4. Citizens demand higher levels of service
5. Collective action drives transformative change
6. Organizational change supports Destination 2030

If we can advance these outcomes, we believe we will contribute meaningfully to achieving sustainable water and sanitation services for all, including the over 2 billion people currently left behind.

To understand where we’re making progress, we recently used a participatory evaluation approach called Outcome Harvesting. Outcome Harvesting is more inclusive, system complexity-literate, and applicable to everyday work than evaluation approaches of the past. Measuring infrastructure is straightforward, but measuring how we have influenced policy, practice, and behavior change is much harder! In this type of evaluation, participants look backwards to reflect on pathways to change, unintended outcomes, and types of approaches and contributions that matter the most.

Findings

In our asynchronous Outcome Harvesting workshop, participants set out to gather examples of system strengthening to harvest with colleagues, then we came together to peer review, finalize, and interpret. The resulting 23 outcome statements harvested are by no means a complete picture of all contributions made by Alliance members last year, but all are tangible examples of systems change and adequately represent the different actors, approaches, and building blocks affected.

What we’ve learned

1. Political will grows where it is cultivated

Policy and practice changes at government levels was the most common type of outcome, demonstrating that political will responds best to technical assistance provided alongside advocacy. For example, in 2024, heads of state in Indonesia, South Sudan, and Ghana launched national compacts on WASH—demonstrating that well-timed advocacy and coalition-building can lead to landmark commitments. Similarly, Uganda’s first-ever Presidential Dialogue on WASH, co-organized by One For All partners, marked a major milestone in aligning political leadership with sector goals.

Offering technical assistance has taught us a lot about where capacity gaps may be, but the most impacted outcome category was high-level political will, not actor capacity. This surprising result highlights how one high-level report, guidance document, or strategy can have far-reaching influence when done in response to a government request for technical assistance and expertise. One example is how IRC and Water For People contributed to several recent National WASH financing strategies released in Africa which have subsequently influenced planned World Bank projects and the African Union strategy. Based on the November 2024 outcome harvest, the three building blocks most strengthened by technical assistance were finance, monitoring, and planning.

2. Local action builds credibility, while national policy drives scale

It’s something we’ve been saying for a while, but many changes at the global and national levels have roots in local demonstrations of systems approaches. Locally, NGOs can sometimes fill the gap temporarily where good national policy and regulation should be, but this should never be a permanent solution. An advantage seen in many of the outcomes harvested that describe the results of district-focused system strengthening work is that while we may have “less” power when working at smaller scales, the relationship building aspect leads to a stronger understanding of the dynamics of the system, and therefore it is easier to build alliances that can scale nationally.

In Ethiopia, IRC supported the development of the country’s first National WASH Finance Strategy, drawing on district master plan data built up since 2018. In Burkina Faso, strategic planning in the Commune of Tenkodogo, supported by IRC, helped local authorities launch consultation frameworks and budgeted WASH action plans that are now being used to influence regional and national priorities. This interplay is also visible in Guatemala, where Water For People and partners secured official endorsement of SIVASA—a national WASH monitoring system—after years of localized sector-building and advocacy. These stories affirm the reinforcing loop between strengthening local systems and national-level breakthrough.

3. Capacity building is a strength – but we need to measure outcomes instead of outputs

Training and technical assistance are scaling, and their effects are real. The WASH Systems Academy, now offered in 126 countries, has influenced how sector professionals plan and budget WASH programs. As of November 2024, 94% of users reported improved professional practice six months after completing a course. Additionally, IRC’s partnerships with UNICEF have resulted in over 580 systems strengthening certificates awarded and new courses tailored for large agencies like UNICEF and WFP. These widespread efforts to grow actor capacity are promising—but they also point to a need for better tracking of outcomes from training, coaching, and peer exchange to understand what’s changing in behavior and decision-making. More frequent evaluation and reflection using Outcome Harvesting will help learn more about who we are reaching how, and what behavior and practice changes build sustained capacity improvements.

4. Advocacy and collective action are gaining momentum

Advocacy and influencing refer to meetings, workshops, exchanges, evidence-sharing, and campaigns designed to push for specific policy or practice changes from stakeholders, mostly government and donors. These initiatives contributed to a growing drive towards collective action co-led by One For All Alliance members.

Globally, IRC’s advocacy contributed to the launch of FCDO’s WASH Systems for Health program which Water For People implements in Malawi and the Netherlands’ renewed systems-strengthening commitments through UNICEF’s ASWA3. These investments are rooted in the idea that fragmented, siloed approaches won’t solve systemic challenges—an insight echoed in WHO’s 2024 guidance and sector dialogues. It’s a reminder for donors and implementers to see ourselves as part of the system, with incentives that need to be aligned with others in a collective action process.

5. Don’t forget the innovations from five years ago

While attention has recently shifted to high-profile innovations like Presidential Compacts, earlier tools like District-Based Master Plans remain essential for local progress. They are our most direct instruments to improve service levels locally, by funding professional service providers, and are key to increasing citizen demand for those services. Additional work is needed to investigate accountability, inclusion, and ownership as district master plans mature and some of the excitement wears off, and to keep innovating approaches to technical assistance for planning.

6. Finance commitments are promising – but delivery lags

While financing remains a top priority, few outcomes from the harvest directly linked to closing the finance gap. This may reflect how new many of the commitments discussed still are, such as Ethiopia’s WASH Finance Strategy or high-level pledges from multilaterals. OFA-supported national finance strategies have influenced World Bank project design and the African Union’s $30B/year WASH financing strategy, launched in 2023. But fulfilling some of those pledges has been a challenge due to low resources and awareness at the local level. Presidential compacts and national strategies carry enormous promise but often require multi-year commitment and reinforcement. As one evaluation participant put it, “It’s a marathon – which continues and becomes a triathlon after signing the compact and supporting the government to make it happen.”

7. Learning and adaptation are first in importance and last in execution

Adaptive learning was the most activated building block in our outcome harvest. From the WASH FIT rollout in health care facilities in Niger to systems-oriented course development by IRC, UNICEF, and WFP, learning tools have been used not just to build capacity, but to influence practice and accelerate uptake. Events like the All Systems Connect Symposium and All Systems Go Africa conference continue to serve as catalysts for peer influence and uptake of systems thinking at scale.

Over the past year, we learned together with communities, governments, donors, healthcare workers, and the whole WASH sector. We note the advantages especially of “just in time learning” where responsive influencing campaigns relied on learning publications to encourage evidence-based decision-making and adaptation. Learning exchanges and trips were also inspirations, as in the case of Mr. Alassan Tsahirou, a mayor in Niger who launched a solid waste management plan after a site visit to a solid and liquid waste collection, management and processing site in Accra, Ghana as part of the All Systems Go Africa conference.

There are more than these seven pathways through the forest of systems change, and we’re only beginning to map them. Harvesting and reflecting deeply on what intended and unintended outcomes, large and small, in One for All partner areas have been achieved so far provided us with many insights to take home. Hopefully these serve as a guide for what you might uncover if you focus on seeing the forest through the trees too.

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About the Author

Dr. Anna Libey is the Manager of Evaluation and Learning at Water For People. She is also a former Fellow at Engineering for Change.

This article is republished with permission from IRC. Read the original: Pathways Through the Forest of Systems Change.

Photo credit (the carousel on News & Insights): Kyoukan Airwayz on Unsplash

The post Pathways Through the Forest of Systems Change appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Solar-powered devices designed to work off the grid are counteracting some of the effects of climate change in the world’s vulnerable communities. Now, a set of online tools that accompanied a new report on the state of off-grid solar technologies aims to more easily measure the impact of these devices.

Two nonprofit groups, the global development charity Practical Action, and Energy for Access, which works to promote high-performing appliances, published three resources to guide companies, non-profits, governments, and investors as they measure the impacts of off-grid solar solutions and integrate them into their plans for climate change resilience and adaptation. The resources accompanied the publication of “Off-Grid Solar: Powering Climate Resilience,” issued by GOGLA, the global association for the off-grid solar energy industry, in March.

“There is low recognition by the climate funds, governments, and other decision makers that off-grid solar technologies can contribute to climate resilience and adaptation, despite their many co-benefits,” said Thomas Stevenson, energy and climate officer at Practical Action and one of the authors of the framework. “Therefore, we want to encourage donors and investors to increase adaptation finance and channel more to the off-grid sector.”

Outside evaluators are still assessing the usefulness of the online assessment tool unveiled in association with the report. “There’s a lot to this,” said Mitra Ardron, executive director of the non-profit Natural Innovation. “In general, except for insufficient focus on the negative consequences such as groundwater depletion from solar pumps, the material is good.”

The potential for off-grid solar is enormous. There may be as many as 685 million people worldwide whose homes are not on a power grid, and off-grid solar technologies may be the fastest way to deliver electricity and services to them.

“Off-Grid Solar: Powering Climate Resilience” describes the role of off-grid solar technologies in mitigating climate change right now. It mentions devices such as solar home systems, solar irrigation, solar-powered fans, and solar-powered cold storage as instrumental in building climate change resilience. Ten million micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises use off-grid solar technologies already, according to the report. These include things like solar-powered fans that cool spaces for 7.5 million people, and solar water pumps that boost crop yields by 50 percent on sub-Saharan African farms. In total, almost half a billion people have energy access through off-grid solar technologies, according to the report.

The economic impact can be significant. “In East Africa, an estimated 21 full time equivalent (FTE) informal roles are created for each 100 solar home systems sold, with 8 FTE and 4 FTE created per 100 systems in West Africa and South Asia respectively,” the report stated.

An accompanying document, the Off-Grid Solar Resilience and Adaptation Framework, is a measurement and evaluation tool for off-grid solar solutions. Following the link leads in a couple of steps to a spreadsheet, a beta version of the tool that will be finalized in 2026. Its creators are now seeking user feedback to make improvements.

First is critical infrastructure and services such as healthcare, education, water supply, and communication. One example of this would be using off-grid technologies to maintain the cold chain for the delivery and storage of perishable vaccines and medicines, which is a critical need in many areas.

Another impact area is resilient livelihoods, where solar energy and devices can add value and diversify the products that farmers and small businesses sell. A third category is information and early warning systems; for instance, off-grid solar technologies can power the remote sensors and monitoring equipment needed to provide climate information and issue warnings of landslides, floods, and other climate-related disasters.

A fourth impact area is disaster response, which includes such applications as portable lights and standalone home solar electricity systems that could potentially save lives in the aftermath of a natural or manmade disaster.

Almost half a billion people have energy access through off-grid solar technologies, according to a report by GOGLA, the global association for the off-grid solar energy industry. Photo: Greenlight Planet

The guidance that accompanies the framework suggests a three-step process to improve climate resilience and adaptation initiatives. One: understand the context by assessing climate risks. Two: be intentional and develop a theory of change to measure and evaluate the role of off-grid solar technology in the initiative. Three: explore how these technologies can lead to systemic changes for long-term resilience.

Stevenson said the framework and guidance was still a work in progress and would be tested in real-world settings with member companies over the next year.

“We will then make any necessary improvements in early 2026 based on users’ experience,” Stevenson said. “This might include updating and refining the indicator repository and guidance on intervention design and data collection.”

Ardron, who founded and sold an off-grid solar product company before founding Natural Innovation, cautions that the impact sector as a whole—not just off-grid solar—tends to focus too deeply on measurement and evaluation.

“Resources could alternatively be spent on doing more of whatever they are doing,” Ardron said. “If you’ve got senior staff trying to implement a framework like this, then those staff are not spending their time trying to actually expand access.”

Measurement and evaluation is a concern, Ardron said. According to executives he has spoken to, companies in the development space often spend as much as 15 percent more time and resources than they believe they need to in order to satisfy donors.

“That isn’t a critique of this framework,” Ardron said. “I don’t find anything specific in this framework that looks problematic. It’s a critique of an over-complicated, over-expensive set of expectations that are taken from philanthropy and imposed on companies working in places that profit-focused companies have avoided.”

Even so, the report and resources may help companies and nonprofits focus their efforts more effectively. The entire package may be found at the GOGLA website on the page, Powering Climate Resilience, Adaptation & Justice.

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This article was first published in the May 2025 edition of Mechanical Engineering Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. See the original (available to members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers): When Does Off-Grid Solar Make Sense?

The post When Does Off-Grid Solar Make Sense? appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Artificial intelligence is advancing in a uniquely African context on the back of new infrastructure and new products designed to meet local challenges. Three companies exemplify this emerging sector: Cassava Technologies in collaboration with NVIDIA building AI factories, and a Kenyan startup called Simba developing a chatbot that speaks local languages.

Developing the infrastructure, Cassava operates Africa Data Centres and they are collaborating with NVIDIA to establish the continent’s first AI factory. The factory is a data center powered by NVIDIA AI announced to begin operations in South Africa this month. More AI factories are later expected to open in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria.

Read more: AI Can Make African Elections More Efficient – But Trust Must Be Built and Proper Rules Put in Place

“Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs,” Cassava’s Founder, Strive Masiyiwa, said.

Echoing his sentiment, Jaap Zuiderveld, Vice President of NVIDIA’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said AI is already transforming key sectors like agriculture, healthcare, energy, and finance across Africa. With Cassava’s infrastructure, more companies and institutions will be able to leverage AI to drive sustainable development.

Ambassador Philip Figo, Kenya’s special envoy for technology, highlighted the importance of the AI factory in promoting innovation and supporting startups. “Cassava Technologies is putting up this first AI factory on the continent, which will specifically be geared towards supporting startups accessing AI capabilities and working with universities in research and development,” he said.

In Kenya, Simba AI has launched the first chatbot capable of understanding local dialects, making AI more relevant to local communities. Simba’s AI chatbot processes “low-resource languages” that are underrepresented online and in academic research. It has already outperformed global AI tools including ChatGPT and DeepSeek Assistant in terms of speed and contextual relevance.
Martin Matunga, Co-Founder of Simba AI, announced the launch of the chatbot in Nakuru, Kenya, where the company has set up an AI lab. The lab trains young people in data scraping, model creation, and AI deployment. Over the last year, more than 30 data scrapers have worked to develop the localized large language model on which Simba AI is built.

One of the unique features of Simba AI is its focus on job creation. The company aims to create more than one million jobs in the next year by training youth in AI-related skills such as data collection, model training, and solution development. This hands-on approach is turning Kenya from a consumer of AI technologies into a producer.

Simba AI is built on Lish AI Labs’ robust fiber-optic network and data center infrastructure, offering computing power to students, researchers, and businesses.

Joe Karanja, Head of Engineering at Lish AI Labs, emphasized the job potential that AI brings. “From the data aspect alone, there are numerous opportunities for youth in data collection, processing, and visualization,” he said. The goal is to move from basic annotation work to higher-level tasks like training models and building scalable AI solutions.

Randy Faulkner, CEO of Simba AI, added that ethical considerations are critical in AI deployment. He pointed out that data privacy, fairness, and robustness against misuse must be prioritized to build trust and ensure responsible usage. “Responsible and ethical use of AI is key to forging a future that benefits all Kenyans, positioning Kenya as a model for inclusive and sustainable AI development in Africa,” Faulkner stated.

Kenya’s position among Africa’s AI leadership has government support. Kenya’s Ministry of ICT and Digital Economy launched the Kenya National AI strategy (2025-2030). The strategy envisions new connectivity through fiber optic cable and 5G networks and new local data centers for high-performance computing and secure data storage powered with green energy. The support for local AI solutions is now pushing Kenya to the forefront among African countries at a time when Africa itself is rising in the global technology sector.

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About the Author

Mercy Nduati is the Engineering for Change Editorial Fellow for 2025. She also works on the editorial staff of the Vennomax Media Network that publishes the Industrial Journal magazine. And she has written for the magazine Kenya Engineer, published by the Institution of Engineers in Kenya. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media from Egerton University.

The post Africa is Primed for an AI Boom Built for Local Needs appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Watch the latest videos from Cohort 5 of the Headstream Accelerator by Second Muse. These innovators are building technological answers to challenges in mental health to shape the future of treatment. They employ hip hop, AI, voice analysis, real-life interaction and other ideas to improve treatment and wellbeing among young people.

The accelerator is a launchpad for early-stage entrepreneurs building digital solutions that uplift Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), Latino, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQIA+) youth, especially within education and healthcare. This four-month virtual program helps founders refine their business strategies and scale for real impact. The accelerator is backed by a booming industry and a 15-fold surge in investment. Its 50-plus alumni reach more than 10 million users, and the program has raised more than (USD) $20 million. Headstream fosters visionary ideas, helping them grow into culturally competent tools for mental wellbeing.

Now, meet the innovators in Headstream’s Cohort 5.

Astro Studios

Astro Studios is a digital media company offering emotional support to teens through podcasts and in-person discussion groups. Founded by Kayla Suarez and Gael Aitor at age 15, the duo launched Teenager Therapy to share their personal struggles—sparking a movement that now reaches millions. Astro has hosted high-profile guests like Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Murthy, creating a vital space for Gen Z to navigate life’s biggest questions.

“We like to think of ourselves as the assessment Street for teenagers, basically,” Ms. Suarez says. “So, we’re really passionate about helping mental wellbeing for young people through digital connections, but also changing those connections from digital and making them offline as well, creating third spaces and community centers for young people.”

 

TadHealth

TadHealth, co-founded by Ben Greiner and Matt Pizzo, is a digital platform transforming how students aged 13–18 access mental health support in the K–12 sector. The platform equips schools with tools to improve student well-being with the goal of delivering stigma-free, timely care. It centralizes and simplifies mental health care. Mr. Greiner drew on his experience as a pro athlete and personal motivation from a friend’s crisis as he developed the platform’s patent-pending technology.

“It’s hard for students and families to find and access the mental health resources that are available to them through the [school] district,” Mr. Pizzo says. “Districts are working with multiple platforms to offer their mental health services. So, what we see with that is an opportunity for us to help and partner with these districts to centralize all of their mental health resources in one centralized location.”

 

TQIntelligence

TQIntelligence, founded by Dr. Yared Alemu, is a pioneering digital mental health platform using AI and voice analysis to deliver more accurate, equitable assessments for youth.

“We take a brief voice sample, between 15 and 30 seconds, and then use that to quantify the severity of the emotional behavioral disorders,” Dr. Alemu says. “That data supports providers and others to determine and come up with treatment planning, as well as track outcomes as the person goes through the treatment process.”

Dr. Alemu leverages over 20 years of expertise to bridge technology and care, especially for underserved communities. The platform’s AI-powered tools help identify emotional distress and guide appropriate treatment, making culturally responsive mental health support more accessible.

Sonar

Sonar, founded by Drew Barvir, is an AI-driven platform reimagining early intervention in youth mental health. Mr. Barvir developed the platform during his time at Stanford to serve as a digital well-being companion for teens aged 13–18. Sonar offers anonymous peer support and real-time insights from digital activity. It is helping schools and communities spot challenges early, ensuring that young people feel heard, seen, and supported.

“Sonar is a smart, wellbeing companion offering 24/7 text-message-based support that’s accessible instantly to all students, and then helps with early identification and noticing and coping of challenges based on social media and mobile activity,” Mr. Barvir says.

 

Levl

Levl, founded by Artin Perse, is a digital mental health platform helping youth better understand and manage their well-being through personalized, stigma-free tools. A member of the 2025 Headstream Accelerator, Levl empowers young people by showing how treatment impacts their mental health, boosting health literacy and self-efficacy.

“With Levl what we’re trying to do is help personalize a mental health medication,” Mr. Perse says. “Do we really understand what that medication is doing to their body? Is it actually helping them or is it not helping them? Because at the end of the day, this is the most vulnerable period in their lifespan.”

 

Healthy Hip Hop

Healthy Hip Hop, founded by Roy Scott, is a digital platform blending hip-hop culture with education and mental wellness to help children build confidence and emotional resilience. The platform engages more than 11,000 users in 300 schools with culturally relevant content that promotes positivity and learning. Mr. Scott is redefining how kids and families connect with music, movement, and mental health.

“Think about it. This is the first generation of fully internet, social media using children, and a lot of these platforms are not necessarily built with them in mind,” Mr. Scott says. “We did a small study last year. We’ve been able to reach over 5,000 students, get over 600,000 minutes of physical activity, and been able to see improvement in time on task and engagement in the classroom.”

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Watch the full video playlist.

The post Startups Give Youth Mental Health a Digital Upgrade appeared first on Engineering For Change.

AI-guided agriculture, biodegradable packaging, technical training for Peruvian women, and a modular e-waste recycling system are among the 10 innovations selected for this year’s STI Forum Innovation Showcase. The showcase launched with a Call for Innovations, a global search for solutions to challenges in sustainable development in low-resource settings. It culminated in the showcase at the 2025 United Nations Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum), held in New York earlier this month.

Engineering for Change played a key role in organizing the event.

“It was a rare opportunity to probe our diverse communities and identify leading innovations at the intersection of multiple SDGs. The innovations here were chosen for their exceptional understanding of the communities they serve and unique approaches to complex challenges,” Iana Aranda, President of Engineering for Change and head of sustainability strategy at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, said in her introduction of the showcase.

“While technology alone can’t solve all issues, social entrepreneurs – especially the youth – inspire us by challenging the status quo to enhance the quality of life for people and the planet,” Ms. Aranda said.

This year’s call focused on five key Sustainable Development Goals—health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), inclusive economic growth and decent work (SDG 8), ocean conservation (SDG 14), and strengthening global partnerships (SDG 17). Worldwide, 338 innovators submitted their work, demonstrating a vibrant global commitment to leveraging science and technology for sustainable development. After a rigorous review, 28 innovations were shortlisted for their creativity, scalability, and impact, and the UN’s 10-Member Group of High-level Representatives selected 10 for the showcase. These innovations highlight the power of inclusive, locally relevant technology to accelerate progress toward the SDGs.

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Meet the Innovators

Mariana Costa, Co-founder & President of Laboratoria | Peru

Mariana Costa Checa, Peruvian social entrepreneur and founder of Laboratoria, is advancing gender equality and digital inclusion across Latin America. Through tech training in web development and UX design, Laboratoria equips women from underserved communities with skills to access quality jobs in the digital economy—transforming thousands of lives and promoting inclusive development.

Jin Dawod, Founder of PeaceTherapist.com | Turkey

Jin Dawod, Syrian human rights advocate and founder of PeaceTherapist.com in Turkey, provides trauma-informed mental health support to displaced and marginalized communities. Her multilingual platform connects users with licensed therapists in Arabic, Turkish, and English—offering free care to those in need. Jin is a refugee herself. Her experience informs her work as she fosters healing, integration, and resilience in conflict-affected populations.

Lilan Dayananda, Managing Director and CEO at Elzian Agro | Sri Lanka

Lilan Dayananda, Managing Director and CEO of Elzian Agro, is a Sri Lankan social-tech entrepreneur advancing climate-smart agriculture through AI and digital tools. Under his leadership, Elzian Agro delivers IoT-powered solutions to help farmers boost productivity and conserve resources—impacting over 200,000 hectares and supporting 17,000+ farmers across Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. A global advocate, Lilan contributes to UN climate forums and champions youth leadership in sustainable innovation.

Oghenetejiri J. Edaferiemu, SGBV Lead at Sentinel Forensics Sexual Assault Kit | Nigeria

Oghenetejiri J. Edaferiemu, forensic scientist and gender advocate, leads the development of the Sentinel Forensics Sexual Assault (SFSA) Kit—a standardized, victim-centered tool for collecting evidence in sexual and gender-based violence cases. Her innovation improves forensic integrity, upholds survivor dignity, and strengthens legal outcomes. By training first responders and health workers, her work is helping transform Nigeria’s response to SGBV and sets a model for regional adoption.

Addisu Fekadu Andeta, Enset Starter Culture | Ethiopia

Addisu Hailu, Ethiopian entrepreneur, is transforming indigenous food systems through science-driven innovation. His Enset Starter Culture—a lyophilized fermenting agent paired with improved processing tools—dramatically reduces post-harvest loss of enset, a drought-resistant staple, from 45% to 2%. Reaching over 32,000 people, the technology boosts food security, shortens fermentation time, and connects traditional knowledge with modern science to build resilient, scalable food systems.

Lutendo Ndhlovu, Control Environmental officer at Training of Informal Refrigeration and Air-conditioning | South Africa

Lutendo Ndhlovu, public sector innovator in South Africa, is advancing sustainable cooling and inclusive workforce development in the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector. She leads a national program that trains and certifies informal technicians—aligning with global climate commitments. With over 1,000 certified, including women and youth from underserved communities, her work supports climate resilience, public health, and a just transition to a green economy.

Joseph Nguthiru, Founder of HyaPak | Kenya

Joseph Nguthiru, Kenyan environmental innovator, is combating plastic pollution and waterway degradation through circular economy solutions. His venture, HyaPak Ecotech, transforms invasive water hyacinth into biodegradable packaging—reducing plastic waste and creating green jobs in riparian communities. A youth leader and educator, he also spearheads the Adopt a River program, driving grassroots action for river conservation and sustainable urban development.

Willie Ng, Managing Director at Global Cerah | Malaysia

Willie Ng, Malaysian sustainability entrepreneur, leads Global Cerah, a circular economy enterprise turning over 20,000 tons of agricultural waste into animal feed, organic fertilizer, and biomass. His work reduces emissions, supports biodiversity, and creates jobs for 600+ people—including smallholder farmers and youth. By revitalizing local agriculture, Willie advances environmental stewardship and resilient, inclusive food systems across Malaysia.

Lennox Omondi, Founder & CEO at ECOBANA | Kenya

Lennox Omondi, a Kenyan social entrepreneur and founder of ECOBANA Ltd, leads the production of affordable, biodegradable sanitary pads made from locally sourced banana fibers. His innovation has empowered over two million girls and women in East Africa to manage menstruation with dignity, enabling them to stay in school and at work. Beyond product innovation, ECOBANA creates jobs for young people and promotes menstrual health education within communities. Lennox’s work exemplifies the impact of sustainable, local solutions in addressing systemic inequalities and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ailín Svagzdys, Chief Research Officer at Alkemio-Bio

Allín Svagzdys, a biotechnologist and co-founder of Alkemio, serves as Chief Research Officer, leading the development of modular, on-site systems that recover rare earth elements and critical metals from e-waste and industrial residues using organic acid leaching and custom adsorption technologies. Alkemio’s innovation reduces reliance on harmful mining and shortens supply chains, promoting cleaner manufacturing and circular resource use. Under Allín’s leadership, the startup drives sustainable industrial transformation and climate-aligned innovation in emerging economies.

The post From Peru to Kenya, These 10 Innovations Took Center Stage at the UN STI Forum appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Refugees are providing energy within camps home to millions of displaced people around the world, my research has found.

There are now more than 120 million forcibly displaced people globally. Although United Nations humanitarian agencies provide firewood and small electric lanterns, these are often not enough for most families.

To make up the shortfall, entrepreneurial refugees in the camps I visited have become energy suppliers by establishing shops, phone charging stations, even cinemas.

While visiting camps administered by the UN Refugee Agency in Rwanda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and other countries across Africa, I was struck by the hum of electricity and the smell of cooking in the camps’ markets. Energy was everywhere.

In all the camps I visited, people were selling clothes, cooking bowls and toys, as well as lighting and electrical appliances. These shops all used energy – computers totted up bills and printed receipts, radios played music, and people everywhere were using mobile phones and the internet. Fans and motors were working hard to keep things cool and the power on. Refugees buy these products at local markets – which are often run by refugees themselves.

After conducting over 170 interviews with refugees and humanitarian practitioners, it became clear refugees buy their own energy to run many of these cafes and shops: buying their own diesel, generators, or electricity technologies including solar panels and batteries.

Read More: The Value of Off-Grid Solar Energy in Refugee Camps

Formal refugee energy access provided by humanitarian agencies or national governments is projected to be very low: Chatham House statistics suggest 94% of forcibly displaced people living in camps have no meaningful access to power, and 81% lack anything other than the most basic fuels for cooking.

Renewable connections

Local energy businesses operating around the camps in Rwanda and Kenya, such as BBOX or MESH Power, provide solar solutions such as selling solar panels and solar home systems from which refugees can have lighting, charge their phones and plug in electrical appliances. These renewable systems help to lower the costs – but sometimes the companies are not able to expand their businesses within refugee camps due to UN restrictions.

As one of the refugees I spoke to in Rwanda explained: “You can see two types of solar business really. Those using energy that is easy to get to – off-the-shelf products and services – to keep the lights on in the night, or offer cool drinks or a fan. And those businesses where really energy is the business … where people can use solar home systems or other technologies.”

Sadly, this picture is not uniform across the world. For example, buying diesel in refugee camps or purchasing kerosene for lanterns can be very expensive. Spending by displaced people on simple cooking fuels and technologies, as well as basic lighting, is estimated to be around US$200 (£160) per year per family, for less than four hours of energy a day.

Buying from external energy suppliers often comes at great cost to refugee families as energy in refugee camps can be incredibly expensive. Estimates suggest that refugee households in Kenya and Burkina Faso spend between 15% and 30% of their income on energy – a figure that in the UK would mean a household was in a situation of extreme fuel poverty.

In total, refugee households around the world spend at least US$2.1 billion (£1.68 billion) on energy each year.

Refugee-led businesses

In the face of such challenges, refugee energy entrepreneurs are expanding the range of energy services and products available to refugee communities in terms of sustainability: providing new solar solutions and electricity connections from solar-powered energy sources. For members of the refugee community who use this service, this can reduce the cost of energy.

These refugee-led enterprises often start after refugees have saved or borrowed money from friends and family to start their energy businesses – for example, by buying a solar panel and battery and charging customers to use the electricity it generates. Sometimes referred to as micro-enterprises or energy entrepreneurs, they go beyond being passive users of electricity and become active participants in the energy economies of refugee camps.

Examples of such businesses include Kakuma Ventures, based in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, which provides wifi and solar energy access to more than 1,500 people in the camps.

Another example is Patapia, based in camps in Uganda, which helps refugee women launch and grow businesses powered by clean energy. Successful refugee-led energy businesses are highlighted by the work of climate change charity Ashden through its Humanitarian Energy Award, and its support for local businesses leading the way on sustainable energy in humanitarian settings.

Indeed, many new global initiatives and humanitarian programmes are starting to take seriously the role of refugee-led organisations and businesses. Take the work of Last Mile Climate, which is dedicated to helping grassroots initiatives, refugee-led businesses, charities, humanitarian agencies and government organisations tackle climate-related challenges.

Refugees are also writing on this issue in the media, highlighting how important the issue of inclusivity is in delivering the sustainable energy transition in humanitarian contexts.

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About the Author

Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen is a Research Advisor on Humanitarian Energy at the University of Oxford.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post How Refugee Entrepreneurs Are Supplying Sustainable Energy to the Camps They Live in appeared first on Engineering For Change.

Some 75 percent of solar energy kits sold for off-grid use since the early 2000s have stopped working. Entrepreneurs are working to revitalize these much-needed systems.

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Some nights in Kaputula Village in Zambia, Reuben Musunga repairs solar lights by the light of his own solar light. Batteries are the most likely component to fail in off-grid solar products, according to SolarAid, a non-governmental organization that trains repair techs, including Musunga, through its social enterprise SunnyMoney. Musunga can now replace batteries and repair switches, faulty wiring, and other problems with solar products that stop working.

Each light he repairs chips away at a global stockpile of hundreds of millions of solar products sold since the early 2000s that no longer work.

“We were taught and practiced how to remove and replace a component, soldering, assembly, and most importantly, how to identify a component’s identity when trying to do a replacement,” Musunga said. “Based on the number of products I have been exposed to, I feel confident to handle all the lights that we sell if a customer were to bring them to me for repair.”

The global market for off-grid solar products has surpassed expectations set in the last decade, at a trade volume of $3.8 billion in 2023, according to the World Bank’s “Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2024.” Most of these systems fall under the category of picosolar, which are smaller and more affordable than traditional solar systems and are designed to provide enough electricity to recharge the batteries of low-power-consuming appliances such as mobile phones, e-readers, and LED lights.

While picosolar systems are ideal for off-grid applications in large areas of the Global South, many of the products sold in recent years have stopped working. According to an estimate from SolarAid, 75 percent of solar energy kits sold since the early 2000s (some 250 million units) no longer function as intended. These kits usually include the components needed to build a home solar system, including a panel with mounting hardware, a battery, and a package of lights and appliances. None of the picosolar products that SolarAid included in a study had warranties of more than two years, and many kits and their parts broke within three years, according to their State of Repair report.

Most off-grid solar products are imported into sub-Saharan Africa, which can add a layer of difficulty to the return process. Repairing the products when they break makes sense, and the good news is 90 percent of the distributors of off-grid solar products provide some kind of repair service, according to SolarAid. Repair work faces hurdles, however. Those include sourcing parts and documentation, and a lack of enforced standards for quality and repairability.

Parts and documentation

Kinya Kimathi founded Kijani Testing Ltd. to test sustainable products in Kenya. She began offering repair services last year in Kukuma at one of Kijani Testing’s three branches, and has confronted the challenges of solar product repair. She hired four licensed technicians who had a workload of 519 products that they repaired in the first six months of offering the service. Many of the products were solar-powered water pumps. Pumps are in the smallest subset of global solar product sales, according to the World Bank report, but Kijani Testing has a contract with a pump manufacturer, so they see a lot of them.

“The biggest challenge would be accessing spare parts and lack of user manuals to help repair appliances,” Kimathi said. “We are sourcing the spares via manufacturers in China. The process is constantly evolving and we are always learning and improving.”

Sourcing parts could start with the manufacturers. Manufacturers could do more to provide spare parts in the countries where they sell their products, Kimathi said. Likewise, countries could remove tariffs on the importation of parts, as SolarAid recommends in its report.

Repairing small-scale solar systems, such as this solar-powered pump, can keep e-waste out of landfills. Photo: Kijani Testing Ltd.

Manufacturers also play the biggest role in the work to source technical documentation. Documentation, specifically tech spec sheets, is an essential part of the repair ecosystem, as Kimathi refers to the interconnected system of products, regulations, repair services, and waste disposal.

“The issue is there are no manuals for some products and for some they are there, but not in English. End users could have simplified user manuals made available to them,” Kimathi said.

“The biggest challenge would be accessing spare parts and lack of user manuals to help repair appliances. We are sourcing the spares via manufacturers in China.” —Kinya Kimathi, founder, Kijani Testing Ltd.

Documentation could support licensed repair techs and informal repair techs, who are a thriving segment of the repair ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa. Informal techs are capable, often trained on electronics repair in the local polytechnic institutes and trade schools. They tend to be out of work in the formal sector or between jobs. While the repair sector should work to license and hire informal repair techs to remove the word “informal” from their job titles, a pragmatic view includes them in the mix of people repairing products.

Open source documentation and apps could help. SunnyMoney built a freely available mobile app for repair techs called the Picosolar Repair Guide. SolarAid said the app is a foundation to build on, and calls for collaboration throughout the repair ecosystem to develop open access repair guidance.

Missing standards

Only 27 percent of off-grid solar energy products are quality-verified, the World Bank reports. Poor quality products drag down sales and impede repair work.

Countries are adopting quality standards, but enforcement is mixed. The quality assurance organization VeraSol works with a growing list of countries, now at 20, to help them implement solar product standards in line with those of the International Electrochemical Commission. Verified products are more expensive, however. Financial incentives and consumer awareness campaigns could increase the number of products that meet standards, the World Bank report suggests.

Standards can improve the repair ecosystem, as well.

Repairability by design

Repairability is not a priority for many solar product manufacturers, and some even add a layer of difficulty by making them tamper-proof. A more thoughtful approach to design, and the implementation of product standards, could bake repairability into the solar products.

One idea Kimathi advocates is a public repairability index to steer manufacturers toward more repairable designs. Another idea: since batteries are a key point of failure, make them easy to replace.

“Battery failure rate is quite high and the market is riddled with sub-standard batteries,” Kimathi said.

One of her company’s solutions is a program in the works that would refurbish malfunctioning batteries and use them as spares.

Smart design can also simplify the search for spare parts. Manufacturers could make appliances modular and use standardized components that can be easily replaced when they wear out. Taking the next step, parts could be available locally, rather than requiring technicians to order parts from abroad. The different actors in the broader repair ecosystem could collaborate on a local distribution network to provide parts quickly.

Bringing broken picosolar systems back online

The number of solar products that end up in landfills in sub-Saharan Africa can be hard to quantify. Broken solar products accounted for 3 percent of 55,000 metric tons of electronic waste binned in Kenya in 2017, according to research by the UK Department for International Development.

E-waste reduction is important, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Repairing broken solar products makes ownership more affordable. And affordability is paramount to the 44 percent of the world that lives on less than $6.85 per day. More so for the 700 million people earning less than $2.15 per day.

Research underway now by SolarAid suggests the average cost of a repair is 32 percent of the cost of purchasing a new product. Their research has also found that households are still holding on to nearly all of the products that have broken, and nearly all of those products—91 percent—can be repaired.

“This tells us that people want their products repaired. A broken product should not mean the end of the story,” said Jamie McCloskey, SolarAid’s Director of Programs and Partnerships.

“The off-grid energy sector has historically focused on connection points and the number of people gaining access. But real success means sustained access—ensuring that the service continues long after the first sale,” McCloskey said.

For some, solar products can be lifechanging.

In the last two decades, millions of people around the world have been able to own such things as lights, fans, radios, and televisions for the first time. Solar appliances are broadening the services that schools and clinics provide, and keeping their doors open later. And people are eating better as solar water pumps increase crop yields and refrigerators reduce spoilage.

There are 685 million people in the world who do not have electricity in their homes, and off-grid solar products are probably the lowest cost means of delivering energy to 40 percent of them, the World Bank reports. 1.6 billion people around the world have intermittent grid access, and solar products help during power outages.

Reuben Musunga sees the difference picosolar products have made in Kaputula.

“People are now able to have enough lighting at night, especially in my community,” Reuben Musunga said. “I have supplied most of them with solar lights, and most have stopped using kerosene lamps and candles. They are also saving money they would use regularly to buy batteries for torches.”

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This article was first published in the April 2025 edition of Mechanical Engineering Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. See the original (available to members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers): Strengthening the Off-Grid Solar Repair Ecosystem.

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