Increasing energy acces in Southeast Asia through social enterprises

• Main Author: Jeong, Haneol
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Civic and Community Engagement; Science and Technology Studies
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lien_research/157; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lien_research/article/1159/viewcontent/increasing.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The 21st century has seen cars go driverless and virtual reality become a reality—yet one fact remains: one in seven people still do not have access to electricity.1 In an age where more people have access to mobile phones than toilets,2 electricity has become as vital a necessity as clean water. To address this issue, social enterprises such as M-KOPA and Sunlabob have pioneered efforts to provide renewable energy for off-grid communities, and yielded innovative energy alternatives and financing solutions. Southeast Asia, however, remains a largely untapped market, with approximately 19 per cent of its population still without access to consistent electricity.3