Impact Talks: Going Beyond Energy Access

Welcome to Impact Talks!

The word ‘Impact’ has been overused and misused in today’s world of green washing and disinformation.

Through our exciting new online series, Impact Talks, we want to put the meaning back into the word ‘Impact’ by welcoming entrepreneurs and experts who are helping to create real change to speak about the work they do and how others can become changemakers as well.

Join us each month to put some oomph back into your lunchtimes and hear from motivating speakers on the topics of:

• Sustainable Food
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Circular Economy
• Green Tech

These are the focus area of our four ecosystems, where we see the greatest potential for entrepreneurship and collective action. Get in touch to find out more about opportunities to collaborate!

Going Beyond Energy Access

Why we should talk less about energy access and more about income-generating activities?

Join us for our first Green Tech edition of Impact Talks on Tuesday 12 December 2023 at 13:00 GMT+0100 (Central European Standard Time) to hear from our expert guest speaker, Ndiarka Mbodji.

Nearly a decade after the SDGs pledges and billions of dollars poured into “Universal Access”, we are yet to witness any significant shift in the economic conditions of the millions of unserved populations of Africa.

In a world where words drive actions, and actions drive results, the race to “access” has focused the minds on “connections” rather than growth. So, are we having the right discussion and focusing on the transformative power of energy?

As energy is the indispensable prerequisite for enhancing economic development and improving the quality of human life – should we not talk more about growth and focus the financing efforts on beyond access, bridging the gap between energy access and income-generating activities that will ensure sustainable and long-term energy usage?

Join us for a passionate talk that will highlight why focusing more attention and financing on Beyond Access would accelerate the access to energy, baseline to sustainable growth.

Ndiarka Mbodji

A former corporate executive, Ndiarka is the founder of Kowry Energy Services. With over 18 years of experience in senior positions, she has extensive knowledge across supply chain, programme management, operational excellence, engineering, and customer business. As corporate leader and now founder, Ndiarka brings both these perspectives, and years of experience of navigating being a FINTA leader in the green tech world.

This event series is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Climate Action as part of the ConnACT with Impact programme. It is also made possible through our partners, Lufthansa Group.