Energy Access

While the focus in developed countries is increasingly directed towards employing clean or renewable energies to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, the use of alternative energy sources in developing countries is first and foremost about access to safer, cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy. Microfinance has been identified as one of the key facilitators towards economic development in the developing world.

What is Microfinance?

Microfinance is a financial tool that is used to promote entrepreneurship in developing nations. This opens doors towards economic prosperity for millions of people. Microfinance loans for energy services or “Energy Lending” are also used to provide people access to high quality modern energy services. These are offered and serviced by Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) to people interested in moving away from traditional fuels (wood, biomass etc.). These loans can offset the initial investment associated with cleaner technologies such as LP Gas which provides higher quality and greater safety. Microfinance can provide clients with access to high quality modern energy services. In doing so, such loans can offset the high upfront cost associated with cleaner technologies such as LP Gas which provides higher quality, greater safety and often leads to increased income.

Microfinance in Morocco
The WLPGA believes that the portable nature of bottled LP Gas, combined with its clean burning characteristics, presents an immediate, ‘win-win’ solution to rapidly expand the availability of modern energy to those that have been without it. In May 2004, a workshop was held in Morocco which led to the launching of the microfinance scheme stemming from the LP Gas Rural Energy Challenge.The initiative is still going strong.


Morocco has a robust and extensive infrastructure of professional, credible MFI network that works in the country’s poorer communities. This microfinance pilot project was initiated in partnership with WLPGA members Afriquia Gaz, Shell du Maroc, Total Maroc, as well as with the well-established Moroccan MFI, Zakoura Foundation.

World LP Gas Association and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Another initiative within the Rural Energy Challenge with UNDP was a microfinance pilot project to support entrepreneurial use of LP Gas in various parts of the world.
Please click here for more information on WLPGA and UNDP projects.

Energy Access in South Africa
South Africa’s national electricity utility Eskom recently launched a demand-side management (DSM) initiative in the Western Cape region in response to a shortfall in electrical supply capacity. The programme included replacing of electric cooking stoves and heaters with LP Gas equivalents. With access to LP Gas, programme participants were able to reduce their electricity consumption, while increasing the efficiency of their energy use. This was a consequence of the rural energy challenge