Sub-Saharan Africa has the world's least-developed energy and water systems. Traditional fuels supply 81% of energy, 63% of the population lack access to improved sanitation and 44% lack access to improved water supply.

At the heart of the challenge (as with all development issues) are inadequate institutions. Energy and water systems are highly capital-intensive, but the low density of economic activity in rural Africa means that development cannot start with central-grid distribution systems. Distributed supply systems are necessary to introduce service. Sustainable development of energy and water services requires technologies and business institutions able to operate viably and mobilize financing at the scale adapted to rural communities and projects. Local enterprise formation is an often-neglected component of "big push" development efforts to escape the energy poverty trap and achieve self-sustaining productivity growth.

CEMTPP's program focuses on the role of intermediary organizations and local enterprises in building channels of distribution to deliver energy, water, sanitary, and social and environmental services to un-served and under-served populations and to do so in ways that are economically and environmentally sustainable. In particular:

• "Enterprise capacity" development (which is publicly provided by the 'social infrastructure' in developed economies) accounts for a large fraction of development project outlays in rural economies. Project formation includes the formation of a business organization and credit commitment in what is often and pre-numerate culture.
• Non-traditional financial organizations, focused on enterprise formation and capacity building, can close a critical gap the creation and growth of these enterprises.
• On the demand side of the service market, affordable financing from micro-finance institutions can improve market support for supply enterprise "bankability", and deepen market penetration for appropriate supply technologies.

Core research questions addressed:

• What are the existing models for business, finance and development program terms for the delivery of energy, water and sanitary services, and how well do they work? Insight is to be sought from success stories that have overcome major constraints specific to rural African areas.
• How does access to credit expand the access to and delivery of energy, water, social and environmental services?
• How are inputs, outputs and outcomes of current development agency "interventions" measured?
• What changes in data collection, monitoring, evaluating and reporting can improve development program design and targeting?
• How can lessons learned be fruitfully shared with the larger development community? How can they be used to expand and improve institution-building for energy, water, social and environmental services in rural Africa?

The CEMTPP program is developing and sustaining coordinated research and fieldwork with a leading NGO in enterprise development. It is also conducted in cooperation with UNDP's Sustainable Energy Programme, with whom academic workshops have been mounted for the past 4 years, and with the Columbia Earth Institute's Millennium Village Program.

© 2008 CEMTPP