One of the obstacles to accelerating electrification via solar energy in Africa is the lack of financing. Engie Energy Access wants to solve this equation by relying on participatory financing. The subsidiary of the French group Engie, which specialises in off-grid solar energy electrification, has joined forces with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Energy Web (based in Zug, Switzerland) to launch a participatory financing platform.

Crowdfund for Solar, as it is called, is a decentralised financing platform (DeFI) whose aim is to install solar systems in villages that are not connected to a power grid. To do this, the platform, hosted on Energy Web’s open-source infrastructure, allows investors to stake Energy Web Tokens (EWT) in exchange for a fixed income. The main beneficiaries of this digital solution include schools, households and small businesses that will be able to acquire solar power generation equipment through the pay-as-you-go system.