The Energy Talk - Storytellers of Africa's Energy Transition

Africa Minigrids Program: Global Women in Clean Energy Episode 2

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Valentina Guido, Senior Associate at RMI, joins as guest host on this episode of The Energy Talk podcast recorded in Kampala, Uganda during the Energy...

Africa Minigrids Program: Global Women in Clean Energy Episode 1

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Valentina Guido, Senior Associate at RMI, joins as guest host on this episode of The Energy Talk podcast recorded in Kampala, Uganda during the Energy...

CAMCO’s $250M REPP 2 Fund: Building the African grid of the future

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of The Energy Talk, we delve into the inner workings of the REPP 2 fund, a groundbreaking initiative managed by Camco, aimed at transf...

Accelerating Capital Deployment in Distributed Renewable Energy: Odyssey’s Product Market Fit

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we sit down with Emily McAteer, CEO and Co-founder of Odyssey Energy Solutions, one of the most influential startups in the climate t...

Direct Air Capture In Africa: Octavia Carbon’s Journey to a $5M Seed Round

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Register for the Included VC Africa Reimagined: VC & Beyond SummitJoin Diana Maranga, Head of Commercialization at Octavia Carbon, as she shares h...

Blended Finance for Impact: How GreenMax Capital is Energizing Emerging Markets

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Ifechukwude 'Chude' Uwajeh, Managing Director of Blended Finance at GreenMax Capital Group, shares his professional journey f...

Meet The Team: Bonus Episode

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Quick and casual check with the team behind the podcast on our plans for the year. Sign up for our newsletter (we have not yet changed the name): h...

The Earthbond Approach: Transforming Energy Access Through Innovation

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of The Energy Talk, we sit down with the CEO of Earthbond, Chidalu Onyenso, to explore the company’s innovative approach to solving ...

Asset Financing: How Payhippo is making solar products affordable

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dami Olawoye joins us as we explore his remarkable career as a finance veteran turned clean energy champion and his role in revolutionizing solar ener...

The African Mini-Grid Program: Mobilizing Catalytic Finance Episode 2

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Subscribe to our Clean Energy Africa newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/dc168bd41a97/sign-up-here Recorded live during the Energy Access Investment Forum...

Investing Equity in African Infrastructure: InfraCo Africa’s $300M Journey

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Subscribe to our Clean Energy Africa newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/dc168bd41a97/sign-up-here InfraCo Africa is one of the few financiers that provi...

The African Mini-Grid Program: Mobilizing Catalytic Finance Episode 1

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Subscribe to our Clean Energy Africa newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/dc168bd41a97/sign-up-here Recorded live during the Energy Access Investment Forum...

State of The African Minigrid Business: INENSUS GmbH

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nico joins us this week to share from his two decades of experience deploying Decentralized Renewable Energy projects, consulting governments on off-g...

Creating an African Clean-Tech Unicorn: Arnergy Solar Company

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arnergy is a renewable energy company providing solar solutions to residential and commercial customers. Combined, Arnergy has raised $12M in a Series...

Empowering The Last Mile: SolarAid’s Unique Model to Scaling Energy Access.

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we explore SolarAid's visionary work under CEO John Keane, aiming to deliver sustainable energy solutions to remote African communiti...

The GridCrux Story: How one Energy Entrepreneur is Democratizing Energy Access in Nigeria

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we speak to Mojola Ola, a Nigerian-based energy entrepreneur about how his company, GridCrux, is channeling its core ethos of value-a...

De-risking Procurement and Financing to Accelerate Scale for Renewable Energy Companies in Nigeria

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Doing business in Nigeria is often fraught with challenges, especially on an operational scale amidst business models that involve cross-border transa...

Funding Climate Impact with Persistent Capital

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Climate venture building is a concept that is not very common within sub-Saharan Africa. In this episode, we interview Tobias and Wairimu from Persist...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 8: Rethinking Policy and Finance for Distributed Renewables

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the eighth and final episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Henok Assefa - Founder and Managing Partner...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 7: Distributed Cooling to Create and Capture Markets

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the seventh episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Anshul Ojha - Founder and Principal anchor for the D...

A $10M Partnership to Scale Energy Access: CrossBoundary and Mobile Power's Historic Deal

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we discuss the intricacies of the landmark $10M partnership between Crossboundary Access (CBA) and Mobile Power–a partnership that ...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 6: Closing the Cooling Gap with Distributed Renewables

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the sixth episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Nirmita Chandrashekar a licensed architect and Senior ...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 5: Delivering health justice through distributed renewables

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the fifth episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we continue our conversation from the last episode of the series joined...

How Catalytic Financing is Powering Clean Energy: David Arinze

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Donor-funded catalytic capital has been an integral part of the growth of the off-grid energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa by de-risking new technolog...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 4: Distributed renewables transform rural health and healthcare

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the fourth episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Rachita Misra - Associate Director of Knowledge and A...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 3: Making Small-Hold Farmers ‘Risk-Ready’ in The Face of Climate Change

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the third episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Supriya Gowda - Project Manager of Agriculture for the...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 2: Energy and Efficiency Support Aspirations of Small Holder Farmers

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the second episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Ganesh Neelam-Director of Collectives for Integrated ...

Distributed Energy For People & The Planet Ep. 1: Practical Solutions, Political Action

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of the Distributed Energy For People & The Planet series, we are joined by Harish Hande- founder of SELCO Foundation, and Gauri S...

Funding Underserved African Energy Markets: Pete Joubert

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How does an investment firm contribute to accelerating Sub-Saharan Africa's access to energy? In this episode, we talk to Pete Joubert, President and ...

Free Online Learning For Climate Education: Eric Steinberger

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Motivated by the lack of engaging and accessible resources on climate change, Eric Steinberger co-founded ClimateScience: a non-profit E-learning plat...

Pioneering Green (Fossil-Free) Steel: Niklas Wahlberg

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Green steel is metal manufactured using a hybrid process powered by hydrogen, as opposed to fossil fuels. Mainstream adoption of green steel could be ...

Policy-Driven Industry Decarbonization: Dr. Ulrike Lehr

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Uli Lehr, Head of Socio-Economics at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), joins us this week to discuss the human costs of decarbonizing...

Sustainability in African Industries: Dr. Amy Jadesimi

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Building low-carbon infrastructure and enabling industries to support their growth is becoming increasingly challenging globally. Lagos Deep Offshore ...

Net Zero Needs Nuclear: Saralyn Thomas & Miguel Trenkel-Lopez

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Saralyn Thomas & Miguel Trenkel-Lopez, members of the Nuclear Institute's Young Generation Network, join us to discuss the role of nuclear energy in t...

Turning Waste Heat to Power: Janice Tran

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Heavy industries are responsible for about a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and re-imagining the physical infrastructure of energy is...

How Em-One Empowers Communities: Mir S. Islam

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Enabling economic growth and development through access to energy is at the heart of Em-One Energy Solutions' work. Since it was founded, Em-One has e...

Building Okra Solar: Afnan Hannan

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Afnan is the CEO of Okra Solar, which aims to unlock the potential of villages and microentrepreneurs with Internet-of-Things controlled smart microgr...

Scaling Solar in West Africa: Doseke Akporiaye

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Oolu Solar raised an $8.5 million Series B funding round in 2020 led by RP Global and including All On, Doseke Akporiaye is leading their expansion in...

How These 2 RE Companies Raised $10.5M : Femi Adeyemo & Chuks Umezulora

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Arnergy and Auxano Solar have raised a combined total of $10.5 million in funding to build renewable businesses. In this episode, we speak to the foun...

Energy Solutions For Rural Communities: Habiba Ali

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For every two hours, staying by a kerosene lantern is the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes.

Building A Clean-Tech Ecosystem: Dr. Wiebe Boer

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With about 80 million Nigerians completely off-grid and another 40 million with less than four hours of power a day the estimated cost to fix Nigeria'...

Investing in Africa's Minigrids: Humphrey Wireko

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Achieving universal access to electricity by 2030 is estimated to require an investment of USD 187 billion (EUR 163bn) in mini-grids globally, and ...

Hydrogen Economy: Jared Moore Ph.D.

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hydrogen's role in the energy transition has gained popularity as new use cases (and markets) open up, but concerns around distribution and storage ha...

Overcoming Career Challenges: Mervin Azeta

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Careers in energy along with other industries have many challenges, this week we speak with Mervin Azeta who started her career as a field engineer at...

Career Planning: Dr. Amanda Rico

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The job market has never been so competitive and the energy sector is no exception, how can you stand out in an ever-growing pool of applicants?

Achieving Universal Energy Access: Damilola Ogunbiyi

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sustainable Development Goal 7 aims to "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all" by 2030 - are we on track?

Walking With Energy: Dr. Aimee Ambrose

23 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Aimee Ambrose joins us this week to explain how the concept of 'energy invisibility' inspired her research into how our relationship with energy i...

Global Youth Energy Outlook: Bonus Episode

07 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Global Youth Energy Outlook is designed to be the definitive tool for understanding what young people want for the future of energy. The first rep...

Oil & Gas in Transition: Jim Claunch

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jim joins us this week to discuss the role oil & gas companies will play in the energy transition, and how this will affect the workforce especially y...

Rhodes Scholar: Godwin Nwangele

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining us this week is Godwin Nwangele who will share his story of being awarded the Rhodes scholarship after a last-minute submission and how he sta...

Generation 2050: Sinead Obeng

13 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Generation 2050 is an initiative by the Energy Institute that aims to create space for young professionals in the energy sector to call for government...

Clean Cooking: Raffaella Bellanca

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lack of access to clean cooking disproportionately affects women in developing countries, aside from emission - use of biomass fuels in enclosed space...

Powering The Clean Transition: Jigar Shah

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jigar Shah joins us this week to discuss renewable energy being "the largest wealth creation opportunity of our lifetime", and it's role in deliverin...

Transitioning Nigeria's Energy Sector: Olatunde Okeowo

18 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nigeria's oil and gas reserves have contributed to it being Africa's largest economy, but how will the economy fare in the context of a global energy ...

A Quick Update (and Happy New Year!)

13 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Congratulations on making it past 2020 and thank you for all your support, we are looking forward to sharing more stories and growing this platform wi...

Sodium-Ion Battery Technology: James Quinn

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lithium-ion batteries are used in tech gadgets and electric vehicles, but the high cost of lithium extraction and ambiguous mining practices for sever...

Wildfires & Utilities in California: Shawn Adderly

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As of December 6, 2020, over 9,279 fires have burned 4,359,517 acres, more than 4% of California's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the ...

Energy in the Middle East: Colman Hands - Part 2

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Middle East has a long history with the energy sector, with many countries in the region benefitting from the prosperity in the oil and gas sector...

Energy in the Middle East: Sudharsan Sarathy - Part 1

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Middle East has a long history with the energy sector, with many countries in the region benefitting from the prosperity in the oil and gas sector...

Celebrating 50 Episodes: Bonus Episode

09 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Thank you for supporting us this far, we look forward to 50 more and beyond!

Another Downturn For Oil & Gas: Fraser Cowie

29 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Global oil prices have been pushed under $40 per barrel over the last few months in large parts due to the pandemic, this will have lasting impacts on...

Promoting Energy Dialogues: Monika Simoes

14 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Monika is the Founder & Managing Director of Energy Dialogues, a platform that unites the energy industry through dialogues and serves as inspiration ...

Nuclear Energy Is Clean Energy: Amanda Lang & Matthew Mairinger

07 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nuclear energy produces clean electricity, but why isn't it considered as a main energy generation source to address climate change?

The Cost of an Oil Spill: Yuvan Beejadhur - Part 2

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is part 2 of a 2 part series. A Japanese bulk carrier ran aground on coral reefs of Mauritius on 25 July 2020. The ship began to leak fuel oil (...

The Cost of an Oil Spill: Yuvan Beejadhur - Part 1

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A Japanese bulk carrier ran aground on coral reefs of Mauritius on 25 July 2020. The ship began to leak fuel oil (nearly 4000 tonnes) in the following...

Energy Literacy in Nepal: Campfire Ep. 5

24 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Pramod, Kushal, and Joshua are building an energy literacy program that integrates with school curriculums in Nepal.

Re-imagining Nuclear Waste: Campfire Ep. 4

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

5 graduate students from the University of Michigan entered a grand challenge to find a practical use for nuclear waste, and here is the winning idea ...

Degrees Of Change: Campfire Ep. 3

04 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Co-founders, Isha Kulkarni and Tanmay Takle started Degrees of Change to inspire systemic action on climate change and bridge the knowledge gap.

Water For Everyone: Campfire Ep. 2

13 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paola & Areli are building solar water distillers for rural communities in Bolivia while being in their 4th year of University.

Building An Energy Background: Campfire Ep. 1

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to our first campfire episode, over the next 8 weeks we'll be hearing the stories of different teams of young people building projects in the ...

Season Finale: Introducing Campfire

01 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our final episode for season 2, thank you all for your support so far. We couldn't have made it this far with our audience and amazing guests.

Anna Mikulska: Covid-19 Impacts On Oil & Gas

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Last month, the WTI oil price traded negative for the first time in history, thanks to the coronavirus and other contributing factors.

Rebekah Shirley: Why is Energy Access Important?

18 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

840 million people don't have access to energy, and by 2030, 90% of the people without energy will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: IEA)

Anu Adasolum: Women In Energy

14 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Women account for 26% of the total workforce in the energy sector, but their representation at higher levels in the organization is even less: 23% of ...

Robert West: Technological Investments In The Energy Transition

12 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Big banks and institutions are making commitments to divest from fossil fuel projects, but where will new investments go? and is this the right move?

Promise Ahante: Leveraging Opportunities in The Energy Transition

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Covid-19 is affecting job markets worldwide and many young people are facing increasing uncertainty in their career prospects.

Bonus Episode: Staying Sane During Lockdown and Episode Recaps

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. Come hang out with us as we chat about the podcast, COVID-19, and things that inspire us.

Sanjana Paul: Hacking The Climate Crisis

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Earth Hacks works with college students to host 48-hour environmental hackathons focused on creating innovative, equitable, and just solutions to the ...

Ayodeji Dada: Energy Efficiency - Beyond Lightbulbs

20 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ayodeji Dada is the CEO of Stratagem Energy Management Company, Nigeria’s emerging energy management company for manufacturers, entrepreneurs, SMEs,...

Teague Egan: Energy Storage Technology

17 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Teague Egan is the CEO of EnergyX and in this episode, he guides us through a conversation on the exploration and production of lithium for battery te...

James Ellsmoor: Innovating island Sustainability

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

James is an entrepreneur, digital nomad, and founder of island innovation. Where he helps islands transition towards low carbon energy sources and dev...

Ujunwa Ojemeni: Impact Investing In Energy

10 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ujunwa Ojemeni is an impact investing and energy expert with experience in the areas of opportunity maturation, financing, and policy. Previously a Se...

Vanessa Nakate: African Voices In The Climate Movement

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Climate change disproportionately affects African communities but it's still not discussed in many African countries, in this episode, we explore some...

Dejo Fabolude: Power Of AI & How It'll Take Your Job

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence technology will drastically change the way we work but what about the effect it'll have on energy systems?

Bonus Episode: Introductions, Goat Economics, And Generating Free Electricity

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Come hang out with us on the first bonus episode of season 2.

Girish Shivakumar: Energy and Sustainability in India (Mission Zero)

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Girish Shivakumar guides us through the energy systems of India, the second-largest country population and one of the fastest-growing economies.

Meredith Adler: How You Can Make Impact In Energy

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Student Energy is a global charity building the next generation of energy leaders who will accelerate our world’s transition to a sustainable future...

Guled Ahmed: Trading Goats For Solar Home Systems

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Guled Ahmed is the CEO and Founder of Power Off-Grid and Jiko Bio-Gas, both operating in Somalia. He has gotten recognition over the years for his inn...

The Energy Talk - Season 2 Trailer

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Excited to share more stories about energy.

Sandra Dozie: Tackling Energy Poverty Through Entrepreneurship.

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Sandra Dozie is the CEO of Salpha Energy, a company that provides solar electricity products to various homes, businesses, and income levels across We...

Bonus Episode: Last Podcast of The Year!

18 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Thank you to everyone who has made the last 6 months of The Energy Talk podcast worthwhile.

Dimitrios Mentis: Building The Energy Access Explorer

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Energy Access Explorer provides the data and tools necessary to create a future where all people have access to affordable, reliable, and modern e...

Yetunde Fadeyi: Energy Poverty and Environmental Sustainability

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Yetunde Fadeyi is the founder of REES Africa and co-founder of Wattcore Energy, both organizations focus on providing electricity to disenfranchised c...

Jamie Margolin: Rise of The Youth Climate Activists

18 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie Margolin is a youth climate activist and the co-founder of This Is Zero Hour. She was one of the main figures in the global climate strike that ...

Bret Kugelmass: Misconceptions About Nuclear Energy

11 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bret Kugelmass - Host of the Titans of Nuclear podcast and Managing Director of the Energy Impact Center - will be guiding us through our first conver...

Bonus Episode: Episodes recap, Banter, and Podcast announcements

08 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram @TheEnergyTalk. You can get in touch with us via email: [email protected] Tune in next w...

Anna Mikulska: An Introduction To Energy & Climate Policy

02 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anna Mikulska, Ph.D., is a nonresident fellow for the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. She is also a ...

William Brent: Impact of Decentralized Renewable Energy

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

William Brent is the Chief of Communications in an NGO called Power For All; which is a global coalition of 200 private and public organizations campa...

Dr. Victoria Nalule: Energy Access in Developing Countries

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Joining us this week on the podcast is Dr. Victoria Nalule from Uganda she is a lawyer that specializes in the energy and mining industries of Africa ...

Jake Corley: Entrepreneurship In Oil & Gas

23 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jake Corley, CEO, and Co-founder of Wellhub, managing partner of Digital Wildcatters which among other things produces the "oil and gas start-up podca...