Innovation Village
Prototyping a Digital Energy Market Platform
Location: Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda
Host: Save the Children International in Uganda
Developer: Innovation Village Uganda
Funding Secured: The pilot for this innovation received $15,000 USD from Response Innovation Lab.
Funding Needed: Not available at the moment
Innovation Village is a Ugandan initiative that supports refugee vendors by offering a digital marketplace where they can sell tailored goods and save their earnings which they can convert into points to be used to purchase clean energy products.
The Challenge
In the Uganda market, clean energy products are unaffordable to refugees and host communities. Vendors of tailored goods do not have sufficient support to grow their businesses and utilize the full potential of available resources.
The Solution
Founded in 2017, Innovation Village is a Ugandan initiative that set out to support refugees with the setup of a market place for tailored goods (specifically bags using African fabric). Under this pilot, Innovation Village expanded the support to refugee vendors by providing them with a digital point-collection platform that allows them to save their earnings and convert their savings into points that can be used to purchase clean energy products. The Energy Exchange Program is thus a digital platform that provides services to refugee vendors of tailored goods. The idea behind this initiative is to set up a credit saving modality that allows users to save and redeem at a later stage.
The Impact
10 groups of 20 refugees and host community members have been formed. They are able to save from their weekly earnings, including 15% of the production from Innovation Village orders for tailored products (bags).
Their savings are converted into points on the Energy Exchange Program platform that lead to energy product rewards.
Innovation Village representatives were trained on the usage of the Energy platform in order to provide support to users
Innovation Village has reached 200 refugees and their families with this pilot.
Success and Learnings
3 of the 10 groups purchased their first energy product (entry-level price) within a few weeks of the launch of the platform.
Several groups are choosing to redeem a solar light with a built-in phone-charging device and use it as an income-generating activity for the group, then continue to save for individual lighting systems.
Participants are willing to contribute some of their own savings to the project (beyond those earned through Innovation Village bags), both in groups and individually
Next Steps
Further customize the Innovation Village platform by adding details on individual savings, loans, and other products and services.
An Innovation Village shop set up to create accessibility of the solar-powered products once members have accumulated points.