CDC Group, the United Kingdom’s development finance institution and impact investor, has launched the Access Insights Platform (AIP). AIP is an open-source data visualization tool delivering key insights that enable businesses across multiple sectors to make data-informed decisions. The platform has been developed by Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors and is funded by CDC Plus, CDC Group’s technical assistance and support facility.
The AIP aggregates key data sets, including geospatial mapping, census data, and business intelligence, on an easy-to-use public-facing tool. Its geospatial module contains statistics that observe economic activity, population density, demographics, household assets and more.
The AIP leverages the Bank’s recently published Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) data sets, in collaboration with the World Bank. In combining these data sets, the AIP will be relevant for stakeholders in various sectors, equipping users with accessible and easy to interpret data, reducing the costs of exploring new markets while informing business strategy and expansion.
With 600 million people in Africa lacking access to electricity, AIP will be particularly valuable to the off-grid energy sector, targeting markets where investments remain limited. Moreover, the platform offers policymakers, development partners and businesses credible and concise data that allows them to design, finance, and execute effective strategies that mitigate risk.
The tool maps healthcare infrastructure, including when data is available, indicating the clinics and dispensaries that do not have a power supply. Additionally, the AIP serves as a critical component of the COVID-19 response, strengthening containment measures by improving country statistical capacities, supply-chain efficiencies, and market intelligence.
Recently, high-profile speakers convened for the virtual demonstration of the AIP and shared remarks on the value of democratizing data and the opportunities AIP offers new and existing partners from civil society to national governments.
Engineer. Isaac Kiva, Secretary for Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy, Kenya, said, “The Kenyan Ministry of Energy welcomes the launch of the AIP, which arrives just as we begin to implement the Integrated National Energy Planning process. The AIP’s unique approach to aggregating and curating data will complement other geospatial tools and allow us to more efficiently understand our citizens’ energy needs and plan appropriate solutions.”
Dana Rysankova, Global Lead for Energy Access, World Bank, said, “We are very pleased to collaborate with AIP to bring the Multi-Tier Framework (MTF) datasets to life. The MTF holds a wealth of detailed information on household energy usage. AIP visualizes this data in a way that will be easy for last-mile distribution businesses, development partners, and policymakers to act on.”
The platform launch will be followed by subsequent launches in Uganda, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.