Accelerating Systemic Change in the Energy Industry

We wrap up this blog series with a case study that shows our advisory work with ELAN RDC, an economic growth program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Original Problem: ELAN RDC, a market development organization focused on renewable energy was extended and needed new ideas after a successful five years helping to grow the sector.

Our "Reframed" Question: What market innovations will lead to a systemic change in access and adoption of solar products?

What We Did Uniquely: We first conducted expert interviews to identify common views on industry constraints. We focused on evaluating renewable energy programming in other countries so that we could provide some comparables. Finally, we wrote and edited a strategy and implementation program for the team.

Our Discovery: What we found in the country were: high logistical costs, an unfavorable regulatory/policy environment, limited available financing, and political instability. For the two-year program, we identified that testing of innovations around new products, targeted business support services, risk mitigation financing, new financial instruments, and stakeholder dialogue platforms were high priorities.

The innovation cycle for most organizations ends with finding product/market fit. However, finding scale for your solutions is key to achieving company and sector-wide objectives. Utilizing a systems lens, we can identify the scaling options and prepare a portfolio approach to test alternatives. This de-risks expansion and yields better, quicker results.

Discovered Markets works with businesses solving some of the world's most pressing problems. This blog is a part of a series of posts covering energy issues and what businesses are doing about it.

Learn About Our Solutions to influence change

What We Do

Subscribe to our newsletter

Let's keep in touch!

Add your email below to receive the latest news, tips, and information from Discovered Markets.

More insights

Partner ecosystems have the potential to scale your impact exponentially. Whether you are starting a partner ecosystem or refining your existing one, we've compiled all the best resources for developing partner ecosystems for you here.

Group of business workers standing with hands together doing symbol at the office

screen shot 2023-02-14 at 1.49.27 pm.png

new market entry - market intelligence gathering

thought leadership for a mission driven organization

Despite over-performing returns, venture capital investment in emerging markets accounts for only about 10% of total VC capital invested, and a significant financing gap remains for small and growing businesses (SGBs) in these environments. Why is that?

Communications and knowledge management delivers the most impact when targeting the SCALERS. The answer to “what do you want your audience to do?” is tied across the AAER (Adopt, Adapt, Expand, Respond) systemic change framework.

Systems Thinking allows solutions to gain early traction and scale faster by using the existing networks. Not only that, but the practice of understanding the system prevents unintentional negative consequences from occurring.

Don't miss what's out there.

Mapping helps de-risk decision-making in data-poor environments. Studies have shown that proactive practices such as gathering data & intelligence via mapping has led to better understanding/decision making for PE firms & those entering new markets.

A Letter to Market Development Organizations

Amplify Service Launch with Market Development Organizations

Wind and Solar Energy in Southeast Asia - Emerging Markets

Thank you for following along with our "Issues in Clean Water" series. We hope you learned more about the role business can play in making practical steps toward resolving these issues.

Click to view an overview deck of the series. If you are a business or fund looking to impact this space, please reach out to us.

screen shot 2020-09-10 at 5.33.10 pm.png

listening and responding to stakeholders in crisis

Current events have changed us all, including our business's stakeholders: partners, vendors, distributors, investors, customers. To respond, organizations need to re-evaluate their systems to listen, design, and respond in changing environments.

Read me

Discovered Markets works all over the globe, from Malaysia to Uzbekistan to Malawi to Sierra Leone. While this can mean travel for some, we have set up systems and networks to allow speedy market interviews, observations, and testing almost anywhere in the world.

We often used the line: "We may not know, but we know how to know." While the team has experience across a diverse set of sectors from project work and prior professional experience, we will never know an industry as intimately as our client or other stakeholders do.

The majority of partners we work with have existing products or services. When taking a user-centric approach, however, this can create conflict.

Testing is an established practice to de-risk business decisions. However, when business is fast-moving and complex, testing can be viewed as too slow.