The Mini-Grid Business

Welcome to "The Mini-Grid Business," hosted by Nico Peterschmidt, CEO of the consultancy company INENSUS. With nearly two decades of experience working with over 100 mini-grid companies across Africa and Asia, INENSUS created a podcast, which becomes your gateway to the world of rural electrification through mini-grids. In each episode, Nico and his guests – seasoned experts who have navigated the complexities of the mini-grid sector – offer candid insights based on real-life experiences. Whether they're individuals who have overcome significant challenges, policy makers shaping the sector’s frameworks and funding structures, or visionaries crafting the future of mini-grids, they all have unique perspectives to share. From exploring successful pathways to profitability, to dissecting the reasons behind a company's struggles, "The Mini-Grid Business" delves deep into both theory and practice. It questions the accepted status quo of the mini-grid sector, ai

The Mini-Grid Business is a business podcast hosted by Nico Peterschmidt / INENSUS, with 49 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Nico Peterschmidt / INENSUS hosts The Mini-Grid Business, a business show with 49 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #48

  IGNITE Energy Access in Zambia

  Jul 20, 202620 minS1

  Send us Fan Mail In Zambia, fewer than 24 people live per square kilometre. Across these vast, scattered distances, extending the national grid is often economically unfeasible, leaving around half the population without reliable power. Before a solar mini-grid reached Kaselo Village, Zeferino Tembo travelled nearly 50 kilometres to shell his sunflower harvest. Today, electricity from PowerCorner Zambia, enables him to run his own shelling business, processing up to 50 bags a day and serving farmers locally. In this episode, we explore how PowerCorner Zambia, part of the Ignite Energy Access Group, is using smart solar mini-grids, battery storage and blended finance to turn electricity access into economic opportunity. With 31 mini-grids now operating, the company is helping reshape rural life while contributing to Zambia’s ambitious 1,000 Mini-Grid Initiative. It is a story of how reliable power can strengthen businesses, schools, clinics and entire communities—one village at a time. Home - Ignite Energy Access Minigrid Development in Africa - AMDA | Africa Minigrid Developers Association Home | ESMAP LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/ Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

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  Episode #47

  Power For Refugee Settlements

  Jun 14, 202654 minS1

  Send us Fan Mail Host Nico is joined by Aimee Jenks from the Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings, Desalegn Woldemariam, Managing Director of Humanitarian Energy Plc in Ethiopia, and Douglas Cox, who leads Renewvia’s work in East Africa from Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Together, they discuss what it really takes to electrify refugee settlements in Kenya and Ethiopia. The conversation explores how camps differ from rural villages, what electricity is used for in displacement settings, and why power is still often overlooked in humanitarian planning. They also unpack the realities of financing, subsidies, diesel lock-in, private-sector risk, UN compounds as anchor clients, and the regulatory conditions needed to scale mini-grids and energy access for both refugees and host communities. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/ Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

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  Episode #46

  Mission 300

  May 21, 202654 minS1

  Send us Fan Mail Everyone in our sector has heard about Mission 300. But who knows the range of instruments and processes behind this term? We sit down with World Bank representatives Jan Kappen (Regional DARES - Africa West) and James Knuckles (ASCENT - Africa East), plus Lamide Niyi-Afuye, CEO of the African Mini-Grid Developers Association, to unpack Mission 300 and why it could be a turning point for energy access in Africa and the mini-grid sector. We get specific about what makes Mission 300 different: country compacts endorsed at the top of government, detailed reform roadmaps, and real consequences when timelines slip. That takes us straight into the issues that decide whether mini-grids can scale sustainably: cost-reflective tariffs, clear rules for grid encroachment, licensing versus concession models, and the need to stop treating long-term operations of schools and health center power systems as something a one-time CapEx subsidy can fix. You will also hear why the private sector has to treat policy advocacy as a core part of commercial risk management. Then we move from strategy to delivery. We compare the West Africa-focused DARES approach with the East Africa-focused Ascent program and its “menu” of support across grid densification, distributed renewable energy, and policy and planning. We talk through the financing stack developers actually need, including results-based financing, debt via regional lines of credit, equity vehicles like Zafiri, and complementary patient capital options for smaller ticket sizes. We also dig into electrifying schools and health centres through energy as a service, stacked with digital connectivity, and backed by long-term payment security. If you care about electrification, mini-grids, distributed renewable energy, and what it takes to turn big targets into money that moves, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with one operator or policymaker, and leave a review, what reform would unlock the most mini-grid scale where you work? LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/ Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

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  Episode #45

  Learnings from Nigeria

  Feb 19, 20261h 5mS1

  Send us Fan Mail Nigeria shows what happens when mini-grids move from pilot projects to infrastructure policy. With over 200 million people and a vast rural electrification gap, the country has built one of the most mature regulatory and financing ecosystems for decentralized power in Africa—and a living laboratory of what works and what breaks at scale. In this episode, Nico is joined by Joanis Holzigel (COO, INENSUS) and Hannah Kabir (CEO, Creeds Energy) to unpack the success factors and challenges the Nigerian mini-grid sector faced on its path to scale. Clear rules enabled investment: standardized permitting, protection against grid arrival, and portfolio-level approvals allowed financiers to underwrite pipelines instead of single sites. Performance-based grants proved more effective than centrally selected tenders, letting developers choose commercially viable communities and scale faster. Local companies grew alongside international players, while interconnected mini-grids opened collaboration with utilities rather than competition. But scale exposed pressure points. Political expectations capped tariffs below cost, inflation and currency depreciation eroded revenues, and higher prices reduced consumption instead of improving profitability. The sector responded with local-currency financing, updated regulations, and decentralization to state governments—steps aimed at restoring bankability and speeding deployment. The key outcome: mini-grid roll-out in competitive markets succeeds when regulation is predictable, grants reward performance, and developers retain site selection freedom. Long-term sustainability, however, depends on realistic tariffs, FX-resilient finance, and integrating productive use and rural industry from the start. Nigeria’s experience turns mini-grids from a technical solution into an economic system—and offers a replicable roadmap, with clear cautions, for other countries. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/ Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

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  Episode #41

  Master Micro-Utility Management in Less Than 4 Hours - Playing ELECTR!FY

  Jan 24, 202629 minS1

  Send us Fan Mail The INENSUS team introduces ELECTR!FY , a real-data simulation game that allows players to run a virtual mini-grid company and experience the real-world trade-offs operators face every day. Stepping into the role of a mini-grid CEO, players navigate decisions around tariffs, site selection, staffing, digitisation, and financing—balancing profitability with customer satisfaction. The episode explores how ELECTR!FY addresses talent gaps in the sector, challenges common misconceptions among policymakers and investors, and provides a hands-on learning tool for entrepreneurs, regulators, financiers, and mini-grid companies alike. By modeling real factors such as foreign exchange risk, diesel price volatility, demand elasticity, and clustering effects, the game offers a practical lens into what it truly takes to scale sustainable mini-grid businesses. Play free of charge under the following link: Minigrid Game LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inensus-gmbh/mycompany/ Visit www.inensus.com for more info.

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