I am delighted to have secured one of 16 grants awarded by the British Academy, under their Sustainable Development Programme. The grant will fund a major research project to further sustainable development and work to eliminate poverty. This programme from the British Academy' is supported by the UK government's £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund.
My project, entitled 'Making Light Work' focuses on a unique model for delivering utility-scale solar powered electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. I will look at the conditions that are necessary for this model to succeed at scale, and to understand the value that an reliable electricity supply can unlock from the digital 'always on' economy. My co-Investigators are Prof. Jim Hall of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, Prof. Cameron Hepburn of Oxford's Institute for New Economic Thinking, and Prof. Anton Eberhard of the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.
The project runs for 16 months from December 1st, 2016 - and I will provide regular updates as we go. More information about the Programme and awards is available on the British Academy's website.