Microfinance and SDG 7: financial impact channels for mitigating energy poverty

ABSTRACT

Energy poverty is a complex challenge, particularly in developing countries. Energy access is a prerequisite for economic development, and its absence perpetuates economic, health, and environmental disparities. The United Nations created SDG 7: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy,” to guide efforts toward achieving universal energy access. This article assesses the channels through which microfinance impacts SDG 7, identifying three main channels: funding and infrastructure, financial services, and microenterprise development. Each impact channel is supported by case studies of institutions that have utilised microfinance platforms to achieve energy development goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Labour and livelihoods – poverty reduction
• microfinance
• aid – capacity development
• environment (built and natural) – climate change
• social sector
• civil society partnership
• technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karli Manko

Karli Manko is a recent graduate of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA where she studied Economics and Health, Medicine, & Society. A Global Social Impact Fellow at Lehigh, she did field work on malnutrition and community health in Sierra Leone and health and globalisation challenges in Ghana. She is currently an Evaluations & Analytics intern at Primary Care Development Corporation in New York City, and will be starting her Master of Public Health in the Fall of 2020.

Todd A. Watkins

Todd A. Watkins is Professor of Economics at Lehigh University and Executive Director of the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise. His work focuses on the intersection of microfinance, economic development, innovation, and public policy. He is author of Introduction to Microfinance (2018) and co-editor of Moving Beyond Storytelling: Emerging Research in Microfinance (2009) and The Future of Microfinance (2020).