The United Kingdom-backed Ayrton Fund has expanded access to clean energy for 46 million people across emerging economies while mobilising more than £3 billion in public and private investment and supporting over 256,000 green jobs.
The figures were disclosed in a statement issued on Monday ahead of the Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium, scheduled to take place at the University of Oxford.
The symposium is being organised by the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund in partnership with the Africa-Oxford Initiative, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership and UK Research and Innovation.
According to the statement, programmes supported by the fund have established a global research and innovation network covering 100 countries, with the participation of 78 universities and more than 840 innovators, academics and delivery partners.
The organisers said the initiatives had also generated 191 technology patent applications and contributed to more than 2,400 research papers, as efforts continue to turn scientific discoveries into commercially viable clean-energy solutions for communities with limited access to electricity.
The symposium will focus on ways universities, innovators, policymakers and investors can strengthen collaboration to accelerate energy access, improve climate resilience and promote sustainable economic development.
A Senior International Funds Manager at UK Research and Innovation, Caroline Ward, said the event would provide an opportunity to deepen cooperation across the clean-energy sector.
She said the gathering would bring together experts from universities, innovation institutions, funding bodies and governments to develop equitable partnerships, attract investment and speed up the deployment of clean-energy solutions capable of supporting economic growth and climate resilience.
The Director of the Africa Oxford Initiative, Professor Kevin Marsh, said African researchers would have an increasingly important role in finding solutions to global challenges such as energy poverty and the transition to greener economies.
Marsh stressed that turning research into practical impact would require stronger collaboration among researchers, innovators and investors.
He added that the Africa Oxford Initiative had, over the past decade, supported hundreds of African researchers, scholars and innovators.
Meanwhile, Professor Misbahu Mohammed of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said his participation in the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership had contributed to improvements in renewable energy education at the institution.
According to Mohammed, the partnership strengthened the university’s Master of Science Renewable Energy Programme through the introduction of two practical courses — Local Solutions for Energy Access and Appliances for Off-Grid Communities.
The developments underscore the growing role of international clean-energy investment in expanding electricity access, creating jobs and strengthening research and innovation across emerging economies.
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