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Looking ahead to 2022

Emerging trends and new advances in Inclusive Business

Harnessing innovative solar technology to provide opportunity in remote areas

Harnessing innovative solar technology to provide opportunity in remote areas

Interview with Callum Yap, Manufacturing & Marketing Lead, Okra Solar

Okra provides utility project developers with IoT hardware & software to energize remote communities around the world with renewable energy. Okra’s Mesh Grid design allows for off-the-shelf solar panels and batteries to be distributed throughout a community and then interconnected into flexible clusters which can grow infinitely as demand increases. This makes it cheaper and faster to deploy last-mile energy access, which enables utility companies to operate and scale-up sustainably.


What were your reasons for engaging in inclusive business coaching/advisory services in Cambodia?

I can speak from my experience with Okra, which is an Australian start-up. A few years ago we were just a bunch of young people coming from the US, Canada, Australia – mainly western countries. We have a median team age of 29 now, but the reality back then was that we were all fresh engineering graduates trying to develop a product for people in rural last mile areas – places where we didn’t grow up. Whilst we’re good at building technology, there was a gap in understanding cultural norms – and that’s why we sought advice from BOPINC. They helped us to develop a framework to effectively engage with people from vastly different cultures.

Distributed power generation is increasingly providing access to electricity to people at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). What has been a major development this year and what are the major trends for 2022?

We are seeing now that the distributed approach to providing electricity in remote areas is being recognized by industry thought leaders, like the World Bank and UNDP, as a viable and legitimate way to scale energy access. This may not have been the case even two years ago, when centralized approaches were by far the most dominant. At Okra, we have been pioneering decentralized Mesh Grid technology, and we are now seeing project tenders being released based on the specifications of our grid architecture. The major off-grid electrification trends are undergoing a paradigm shift and I think we can expect 2022 to be the year of distributed and decentralized approaches.

family standing in front of house, solar panels on the roof
Okra Solar provides solar energy to underserved consumers. © Okra Solar

Which major technology changes do you see coming which will further expand energy provision to the poor?

Over the past decade, advancements in raw material and manufacturing processes for solar panels and batteries have probably had the biggest impact. The cost of these goods have fallen so rapidly as a result that energizing rural communities with renewable energy technologies is not just a green humanitarian choice, it’s now the most affordable choice compared to fossil fuels.

Other technologies that will accelerate energy access in the future are internet access and access to digital education, because these technologies provide a bottom-up feedback loop – you give energy access to people and they utilize it to learn and grow and develop as a society and community, and this drives more demand for energy access. There are a lot of innovations that are facilitating this right now.

What was key to maximizing your impact on the base of the pyramid? Which impacts have you measured since you launched your business?

There are a few key performance indicators we measure. At the surface level, it’s the number of people and households that we’ve energized with 24/7 electricity. We also measure our environmental impact in terms of CO2 offset, or the equivalent number of trees planted. Other metrics we have been trying to measure rigorously are end-user income growth as well as the revenues of our customers: the local energy companies who deploy our technology. We also try to monitor the quality of life of our end beneficiaries. We can see clear improvements manifested through the use of certain appliances like refrigerators, which keep food fresh longer and abolish the need for women to collect firewood and cook every single day.

There are a lot of moving parts that need to work in sync in order to create significant social impact. But core to all of this is the team at OKRA; having really dedicated, passionate people who want to solve hard problems. I strongly believe that the workforce behind off-grid energy access is filled with hardworking and driven stakeholders who are tirelessly moving the needle forwards towards 100% global electrification.

You are engaged in a highly regulated industry. Do you experience more willingness of regulators to be more accommodating to innovative energy providers and what is your message to them?

There is a big top-down push to mobilize capital and make progress towards SDG 7 – energy access for everyone. Implicit in that is that regulators need to look at what’s on the menu and choose the most efficient and cost-effective solutions. So yes - we are seeing more willingness to accommodate innovation. But it is a gradual process because it means going from older, centralized technologies to paradigm-shifting technologies which don’t have the same history behind them.

Climate change is driving renewable energy, often the basis for distributed energy. How much of a driver is COP26 and the urgency for change fueling your business?

Climate change is a fundamental pillar upon which we stand. When we think about climate change, we need to consider the main contributors and how they became that way; obviously, developed countries are the biggest consumers (and the loudest speakers at events like COP26). Meanwhile there are almost a billion people without reliable electricity whose environmental footprint is negligible in comparison, but they are still using rusty diesel generators for lighting whilst tech giants are creating a metaverse. That disparity is on the cusp of growing exponentially, and will have its own damaging effects if left unaddressed. To grow as a society would usually involve huge amounts of waste and pollution, so by energizing last-mile communities with renewable energy, I believe we are largely decoupling this environmental impact from the socio-economic development of almost a billion people.

solar panel installation i Hait
Okra Solar is expanding into new geographies. © Okra Solar

You are expanding into Sub-Saharan Africa: what are the lessons learned in Southeast Asia that you are taking into these new geographies and what challenges do you expect?

A huge lesson from Southeast Asia was that at the end of the day, we’re in the business of energizing people who have their own cultural norms and ways of life. They do business and use energy in their own way. Even from operating in Cambodia and then going to the Philippines, there were differences that we could never have anticipated. And it’s not just the end-consumers with unique characteristics, it’s the entire local business ecosystem. So instead of entering a new market and trying to prescribe how things should be done, we learned to simply say: “These are all of the tools that are on offer. Here’s how our technology works. We can show you how to leverage it effectively, but we recognize that we’re not the local experts – so let’s work together in a way that is conducive to moving as fast as possible.”

Is there anything else you would like to add?

These are exciting times, and we don’t fully understand the gravity or impact of having so many more people connected to electricity. The driver behind what we do is to enable opportunity, and electricity is the lifeblood of that opportunity. With access to reliable electricity, and therefore the internet, education and markets, who knows where we’ll end up. Just imagine what an additional 800 million hardworking, creative people from areas of the world that are unheard of, will contribute to our digitally connected economy...

Callum Yap

Callum Yap holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. He previously worked with D.light Design, a San Francisco based solar PAYG appliance company, and co-founded a fair-work digital marketing company before joining Okra in 2018. He currently resides in China, working directly with Okra’s manufacturers whilst also leading Marketing and Supply Chain operations.

Entrada de blog

Seven questions to make your business more inclusive of low-income and marginalized communities

Multi-national corporations are increasingly searching for ways to make their businesses more inclusive and sustainable. In their blog, Gillian Hinde and Jessie Coates of EY introduce the new Inclusive Business Playbook, which highlights innovative...
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Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about trends and advances in Inclusive Business by reading this nineteenth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer based in...

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editorial

Powering the just transition – The biggest opportunity for Inclusive Business

In his editorial, Markus Dietrich argues that there is a unique window of opportunity in 2022 to position Inclusive Business as a business model for a just transition to an inclusive economy that leaves no one behind.

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feature story

Looking ahead to 2022: Emerging trends and new advances in Inclusive Business

Inclusive Business is no longer on the sidelines; it has come front and center in the boardroom. Governments are also making headway in promoting Inclusive Business and developing inclusive business strategies. Several advances have been made in the ASEAN region, culminating in the recent ASEAN Inclusive Business Summit in Brunei. In this issue of CLUED-iN, the last of 2021, we take a look at new developments and advances in Inclusive Business, including new tools, innovations and practical approaches turning policy into action.

Alexandra Harris

Seven questions to make your business more inclusive of low-income and marginalized communities

Multi-national corporations are increasingly searching for ways to make their businesses more inclusive and sustainable. In their blog, Gillian Hinde and Jessie Coates of EY introduce the new Inclusive Business Playbook, which highlights innovative examples of inclusive business models and delves into key areas for companies to examine.

Promoting Inclusive Business and innovation in ASEAN

In her interview, Marta Pérez Cusó covers the latest IB policy development in the ASEAN region and the practical next steps for inclusive business promotion. She also discusses the new publication Frontiers of Inclusive Innovation: Formulating technology and innovation policies that leave no one behind, which provides examples of how governments can support grassroots innovation and inclusive policies.

Harnessing innovative solar technology to provide opportunity in remote areas

Advances in distributed solar technology have created new opportunities for energy access in remote areas. Callum Yap of Okra Solar explains the latest developments and also tells us how inclusive business coaching helped his company develop a framework for working with communities at the base of the pyramid in Southeast Asia.

How strategic coaching helped build a sustainable inclusive retail business in Egypt

Ahmed Sheikha shares how his company drew on advisory coaching services to develop an impactful inclusive business model in Egypt and to scale its impact on stakeholders.

Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association: Supporting women-led inclusive businesses in Cambodia

The Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association is supporting the development of Inclusive Business in Cambodia. Lina Sophat discusses the role of CWEA in supporting women entrepreneurs as a permanent member of the IB accreditation committee.

Lyly Food: Increasing visibility through IB accreditation in Cambodia

Lyly Food is a female-led company that buys fruits and vegetables from farmers, it is also one of the first Cambodian businesses to receive IB accreditation. Ing Chhiv Ly, the CEO, explains how developing an inclusive business model has benefited her company, and what the government can do to support businesses like hers.

Harnessing the Full Potential of Inclusive Business

How might Inclusive Business evolve in future? George Schoneveld of the Center for International Forestry Research outlines how it could contribute to the global climate change agenda and why partnerships are essential.