The Mini-Grid Business

Bridge Financing Minigrid Construction

Nico Peterschmidt / INENSUS Season 1 Episode 36

Send us a text

Results-Based Financing (RBF) is now the go-to model for mini-grid subsidy disbursement—but there’s a catch: the money only comes after the connections are in place. That means developers have to front the $400–800 per connection cost for construction and equipment, creating a serious funding gap.

In this episode, we chat with Fernando Valda from Energise Africa and Piyush Mathur from Odyssey Energy Solutions about how they’re solving this problem in creative ways. Odyssey links procurement with trade finance to unlock working capital, while Energise Africa taps into UK retail investors to offer loans backed by future RBF payouts.

We dive into how these models work, how they manage risk without relying on big balance sheets, and how fast-track financing is helping developers move faster. We also get into the tougher stuff—like the lack of equity and the worrying drop in development aid that could slow progress.

Whether you’re deep in the mini-grid world or just curious about how impact finance is evolving, this one’s worth a listen.

Odyssey Energy Solutions | Finance, Procure & Operate Distributed Renewable Energy

Energise Africa | Change the world & target a return of up to 7%


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/
Twitter: INENSUS (@INENSUSgmbh) / X (twitter.com)
Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

People on this episode