USAID has announced $4m in new investments to eight companies that are revolutionizing household solar power across Africa through the Scaling Off-Grid Energy: Grand Challenge for Development. 

The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge is a $36m initiative launched by Power Africa, USAID, the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), and the independent charity, Shell Foundation. 

The goal is to empower entrepreneurs and investors in achieving 20 million connections so households in sub-Saharan Africa have access to clean, modern and affordable electricity by 2030.

Andrew M. Herscowitz, Power Africa Coordinator, said: "The Grand Challenge for Development is designed to support innovators like these eight companies who are scaling up their inventions.”

"The options for powering your home and business are changing, and these types of innovations will create opportunities to transform the power sector in homes across the planet," he said.

The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Enterprise Awards provide seed funding to solar start-ups to support geographic expansion throughout Africa, test new business models and tap into private and public financing. 

The startups that won the latest round of financing are: Greenlight Planet (Nigeria, Uganda); d.light (Kenya); Fenix (Zambia); Orb Energy (Kenya); VITALITE (Zambia); PEG Africa (Ghana); Shinbone Labs (Benin, Ghana); and Village Energy (Uganda).

USAID's US Global Development Lab issued the awards as part of a competitive process through the Development Innovation Ventures program. 

Applications were evaluated based on three criteria: cost effectiveness relative to traditional alternatives, the plan for collecting rigorous evidence of success, and proposed pathways to scale if proven effective.

The Enterprise Awards are expected to create up to 120,000 additional connections in off-grid communities.

The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Enterprise Awards provide seed funding to solar start-ups to support geographic expansion throughout Africa, test new business models and tap into private and public financing.

The Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development founding partners work together to align existing investments as well as collaborate on new efforts to address market barriers or failures in the African energy access market, and speed the introduction and growth of new, innovative products and services by enterprises and other actors.  

The Grand Challenge for Development will initially focus on the household solar market, as the most immediately scalable and investment-ready segment of the off-grid market.

Recently, Microsoft, Acumen, and the United Nations Foundation joined the Grand Challenge for Development as aligned partners committed to leveraging their investments, capabilities, and networks. 

"With aligned partners like Microsoft, Acumen, and the United Nations Foundation who are investing in or supporting the off-grid solar sector, we can accelerate the growth of the household solar sector in Africa," said Herscowitz.