Camco and leading industry body for gender lens investing, 2X Collaborative, have teamed up to deliver two online forums to help financiers and the distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector better serve women’s needs.
Global gender finance initiative, 2X Challenge - which led to the formation of 2X Collaborative - lists the provision of products and services that “specifically or disproportionately benefit women” as one of four direct gender lens investing (GLI) criteria. However, just 18% of funds invested to date through the initiative meet the criterion.
In addition to the funding shortfall, there is little structured guidance or knowledge sharing for and among the many off-grid companies that are starting to think about and experiment with strengthening the women-as-end-user focus in their business models and operations.
At the same time, some DRE funders lack the in-depth understanding of how to evaluate companies’ business plans and their ability to serve women customers. And in the policy realm, gender mainstreaming has been increasingly integrated into energy sector policies and strategies; yet these strategies often fail to connect policy goals to private sector action.
Camco and 2X Collaborative’s online forums, Putting women in the spotlight: How to target female customers through distributed renewable energy business models and operations, will address these challenges by:
raising awareness of the importance of providing products and services that specifically support women
sharing practical experiences and facilitating mutual knowledge development
strengthening public-private collaboration with a focus on gender mainstreaming in the energy sector, and
providing networking opportunities to further strengthen the 2X GLI community.
The first forum is being held on Wednesday, 9 February and will focus on the Sub-Saharan African market. The second forum will take place on Wednesday, 9 March, with a focus on Small Island Development States (SIDS). The events are open to all, but are specifically designed for DRE companies and financiers interested in aligning with the 2X GLI criteria, as well as policymakers, researchers and practitioners.
Both forums will include a keynote speech followed by a moderated roundtable discussion to highlight panellists’ different on-the-ground experiences and learnings in strengthening DRE business models to better target women end-users. They will end with a thematic discussion and networking session, giving participants the chance to meet and share their experiences in small groups convened around various sub-topics, including marketing to women, changing perceptions and cultural norms, and the role of policy and blended finance.
For more details, read the event flyer here.
To register for the Sub-Saharan Africa forum, click here. A link to register for the SIDS forum will be shared in due course.
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