GPA at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo (GOGSFE 2026) 

Powering the Last Mile: GPA at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo 2026

At the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo (GOGSFE 2026) in Kigali, Rwanda, the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Secretariat joined industry leaders, financiers, and government representatives with a single objective: ensure that displacement-affected and fragile communities are front and center in the global energy agenda.

Reaching universal electrification by 2030 requires meeting people where the deficit is most severe. As highlighted in GOGLA’s Global Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2026, off-grid solar is the most cost-effective solution to power 41% of the global population—nearly 400 million people—who remain without electricity. A significant share of this population consists of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) and host communities navigating protracted fragility.

Throughout GOGSFE 2026, we worked to demonstrate that these environments are not uninvestable liabilities, but underserved, high-potential markets ready for long-term capital and market-based solutions.

Highlights from GOGSFE 2026

1. Mainstreaming Displacement in National Electrification Plans

Through the Community of Champions—convened alongside ESMAP and GOGLA—GPA facilitated the supported government representatives from Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Discussions centered on integrating refugee-hosting regions into national electrification master plans, inter-ministerial coordination frameworks, and multi-year funding pipelines, ensuring that initiatives like Mission 300 leave no community behind.

2. Mainstage Session: "Uninvestable? The Untapped Market of Fragile Settings"

GPA hosted a full-house session focused on actionable lessons from energy programmes in dispolament settings in: 

• Ethiopia: Scaling private mini-grid finance in remote settlement corridors.
• Niger: Implementing Energy-as-a-Service models to overcome end-user affordability constraints.
• Rwanda: Accelerating market development for Productive Uses of Energy (PUE) to boost local commerce.

3. Cross-Border Scenario Planning Workshop

In a dedicated technical session co-organized with Energy Saving Trust, Ashden, Prosper Global, NORCAP, Practical Action, and Last Mile Climate/SOLCO, stakeholders engaged in multi-country scenario planning. Teams mapped operational bottlenecks, blended finance mechanisms, and delivery models tailored to displacement contexts in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Niger, South Sudan, and Rwanda.

4. Ground-Level Impact: The H-PURE Site Visit at Nyabiheke Settlement

On the margins of the forum, GPA joined Practical Action, Energy Saving Trust, and UNHCR for a field visit to Nyabiheke Refugee Settlement to see the H-PURE (Humanitarian Productive Use of Renewable Energy) demonstrator in action.

 

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Expanding energy access in fragile, conflict-affected and displacement settings requires new approaches to investment and collaboration. While these contexts are often perceived as too risky for investment, they also represent significant opportunities to develop underserved energy markets and reach communities that remain without reliable electricity and clean cooking.

Energy investments can be viable in these settings when supported by blended finance, longer-term capital and integration into national and area-based electrification plans. Realising this potential also depends on cross-sector partnerships that bring together private sector companies, investors, donors, governments, and NGO and UN agencies to address barriers and bridge the energy access gap.

Sessions:

Uninvestable? The untapped market of humanitarian, fragile and conflict-affected settings

Reaching the last frontier of energy access means working in fragile and conflict-affected settings, home to more than 460 million of the 600+ million people still without electricity. This session brings together the private sector, investors, donors, and NGO/UN partners to explore what it takes to build markets and reach communities in these contexts.

Drawing on lessons from projects across the sector, the session will reframe displacement settings as untapped markets rather than uninvestable risk, share honest learnings on what has and hasn't worked, highlight enabling environment factors such as area-based energy master plans and inclusive policy frameworks, and open a dialogue with financiers on the data, guarantees, and policy shifts needed to unlock capital.

Place:

Kigali Convention Centre (KCC), MH2

Time:

Thursday, 29 October | 09:00–10:15 (GMT+2)

Workshop: Scenario Planning for Energy Access in Fragile Settings

Following the session “Uninvestable? The Untapped Market of Humanitarian, Fragile, and Conflict-Affected Settings”, the GPA and its partners are hosting a closed-door side workshop on Thursday, 29 October, from 13:30 to 17:00 at the Kigali Convention Centre. The workshop will feature scenario-planning breakout groups focused on approaches and needs for advancing energy access in displacement-hosting regions of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Niger, and Rwanda. Register here.

Sponsored by: GPA at UNOPS; Partners: Energy Saving Trust, Ashden, Prosper Global, NORCAP, and Practical Action and Last Mile Climate/SOLCO

Place:

Kigali Convention Centre (KCC), MH2

Time:

Thursday, Oct 29 | 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM Rwanda Time

Site Visit

With Practical Action, Energy Saving Trust & UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, a delegation will visit key projects which have enabled last-mile energy entrepreneurs to increase incomes and the local economy through productive uses of energy.

 

Community of Champions

Place:

Kigali Convention Centre (KCC)

Time:

Monday and Friday, 26 and 30 October

Collaborating with ESMAP (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program) and GOGLA to embed displacement-hosting regions into national energy strategies, and looking forward to key government collaborators from Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia sharing their experiences and connecting with wider inter-ministerial energy planning processes.

Are you attending GOGSFE 2026? Join the GPA Sessions. Learn more about the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo.