"I remember a woman named Rebecca in Kenya. When we met in 2023, she had just installed a solar system. She told me she used to live in fear - fear of snakes or men when she used the outdoor toilet at night. Now, she said, "I feel safe. My children and I can read at night. We can watch television and be connected to the world. We can feel free.""
"Of the $250 million, more than $80 million was philanthropic. That early, risk-taking capital helped design the fund, test new models, and prove that businesses could thrive in places once dismissed as too hard to reach. Those grants built the foundation for investment and will help build markets that had not previously existed and make them work for low-income people. Philanthropy is often misunderstood, dismissed as a relic of dependence or as too small to matter in a world that prizes scale."
Decades of off-grid solar investment have enabled millions to replace kerosene lighting with affordable, safe solar power. Users gained safety, extended study hours, media access, and economic agency by purchasing systems from for-profit companies. Patient investment, supported by philanthropic grants, de-risked early models, designed funds, and proved commercial viability in hard-to-reach markets. Acumen raised nearly $250 million to serve 70 million people across 17 underserved African markets, with over $80 million from philanthropy. Early philanthropic capital created market foundations, tested innovations, and catalyzed private investment to scale energy access for low-income communities.
Read at Fortune
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