Jacob Winiecki

Jacob Winiecki

Consulting Associate - Off-grid Energy and Digital Finance Specialist

Jacob is an off-grid energy and digital finance specialist with over ten years of experience launching and growing energy enterprises and end-user finance initiatives in developing markets. He is a co-founder of Simpa Networks, one of the world’s first pay-as-you-go solar companies that now provides modern energy to over 100,000 rural Indian consumers. He has held senior product and operational roles at leading off-grid solar providers in Asia and Africa, and has authored industry-leading publications on energy access and digital finance. Jacob has provided off-grid energy strategy and business development services to development and impact investors, multilaterals and bilaterals, banks and microfinance institutions, and distributed energy service companies. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Accounting from George Mason University.

Publications by this author

How credit can unlock growth and contribute to the financial health of spazas in South Africa’s informal economy
Livelihoods and Microenterprise |

How credit can unlock growth and contribute to the financial health of spazas in South Africa’s informal economy

Digital Spazas credit interventions During the first phase of the Digital Spazas program, we quickly learned how important credit...

By Jacob Winiecki
Building the resilience of South African spazas through digitization
Livelihoods and Microenterprise |

Building the resilience of South African spazas through digitization

The COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably impacted the global economy, requiring governments to take rapid action to restrict physical movement...

By Shirley Mburu
Digital innovations to build the resilience of South African spazas: The case of A2Pay
Livelihoods and Microenterprise |

Digital innovations to build the resilience of South African spazas: The case of A2Pay

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that 54% of the 2.6 million micro, small and medium...

By Shirley Mburu
Digital innovations to build the resilience of South African spazas:  The case of Yebo Fresh and Vuleka
Livelihoods and Microenterprise |

Digital innovations to build the resilience of South African spazas: The case of Yebo Fresh and Vuleka

Phindi runs a fast food business in a township in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. She was inspired to start her own...

By Shirley Mburu
Cold Chain in Emerging Markets
Climate Action |

Cold Chain in Emerging Markets

Food wastage and spoilage has dramatic impacts on economic productivity, greenhouse gas emissions, and food security. Unfortunately such wastage...

By Mediatrix Makungu
Learning From Our Past: Successful Ecosystem Evolutions Follow a Common Path
Climate Action |

Learning From Our Past: Successful Ecosystem Evolutions Follow a Common Path

In early 2021, BFA Global, CGAP, UNCDF’s Better than Cash Alliance, PayPal, the UN’s Race to Resilience, and the...

By Bethany Kanten
Cross-Cutting Themes for the Emergence of the DF4CR Ecosystem
Climate Action |

Cross-Cutting Themes for the Emergence of the DF4CR Ecosystem

By 2030, the DF4CR task force estimates that over 1 billion people can gain access to climate resilience solutions...

By Bethany Kanten
Building a Digital Finance for Climate Resilience Ecosystem: Insights from Industry Leaders
Climate Action |

Building a Digital Finance for Climate Resilience Ecosystem: Insights from Industry Leaders

The IPCC report released this week confirms what communities, households, and individuals around the world are already experiencing —...

By Jesse Fripp
Catalyzing an Ecosystem for Digital Finance for Climate Resilience
Climate Action |

Catalyzing an Ecosystem for Digital Finance for Climate Resilience

The UN-backed Race to Resilience campaign has committed to strengthening the climate resilience of 4 billion climate vulnerable people...

By Jacob Winiecki
Can inclusive fintech be the answer to climate resilience for underserved populations?
Climate Action |

Can inclusive fintech be the answer to climate resilience for underserved populations?

Climate change has already had a negative impact on the lives and livelihoods of billions of vulnerable, low-income, and...

By Malika Anand