In Uganda, more than 95% of households rely on firewood for cooking, and without electricity they can't charge their phones, use kerosene to light their homes, or buy batteries for their mobile phones.
Yet Western philanthropists have poured billions of dollars into the clean-energy sector there in an attempt to bring electricity to those who can't afford it, but they've failed, Vox reports.
"The fact that last-mile communities cannot afford clean energy at their current income levels should be to make the case that a person in Uganda who earns less than $2 a day should be paying $0.25 for their daily income on energy and could afford to do so, when the average American spends about 3% of their income on energy," writes entrepreneur and New Energy Nexus Uganda co-founder John Platt.
Platt's group works with communities to start clean-energy businesses, providing them with loans, technical and business training, and distributing clean energy products.
"What our model does is provide them with loans, technical and business training to become entrepreneurs and distribute clean energy products: a truly grassroots and inclusive approach to solving energy access challenge in last-mile communities," writes Platt, who was riding on a motorcycle in Uganda last year when he saw a woman explain how she could save money Read the Entire Article
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Three social enterprises were recognized at the 2013 President’s Challenge Social Enterprise Award for their major contributions to society. SATA CommHealth and Bliss Restaurant landed Social Enterprise of the Year titles, while Bettr Barista Coffee Academy bagged the award for Social Enterprise Start-up of the Year.