17% cheaper to run: why digital pays for itself
Across the renewable electrification sector, digitalisation is changing how electricity is generated, managed, distributed and consumed. Analytics, AI and the IoT now drive predictive maintenance, sharper demand forecasting and real-time monitoring. For companies serving customers of and beyond the grid, this is the difference between a system that works and a business that lasts.
Digital pays for itself
The evidence is clear. A European Commission Joint Research Centre study of 49 solar hybrid mini-grids across seven sub-Saharan African countries found that remote monitoring can cut operating costs by up to 17%, with payback in as little as one year. That is a strong business case in the region where most of the 675 million people still without electricity live.
ARE’s membership reflects this shift: 19 of our Members specialise in software-as-a-service.
Build, buy or build on?
Masunga is about to launch an open-source PaygOps software for last-mile distributors. It gives companies that want to build their own in-house tools a ready foundation, and a fresh way to ask whether to build, buy or build on existing code.
Interoperable by design
Others are tackling interoperability. acciona.org Foundation and UPM’s PROTEO manages energy-as-a-service through prepaid solar home systems. It works offline, connects to tools such as KoboToolbox and Metabase, and is ready for mobile payments. In remote communities with patchy connectivity, that is not a luxury.
From tools to infrastructure
Digital tools are also reshaping how the sector is financed and governed. Anfani Energy has evolved from matching MSMEs with providers and financiers into a digital infrastructure layer that identifies, finances, deploys and monitors clean energy solutions, using customer, location and climate-risk data. Inensus brings 15 years of experience digitising the mini-grid sector. Its tools range from micro-utility management software to AI-supported verification of results-based finance milestones, and a licensing management tool for electricity regulators.
Scaling up without starting over
Growth brings its own challenge. Upya Technologies will show how companies can outgrow their systems without starting over, upgrading operations while keeping the business running.
Join the conversation
Software is core infrastructure, as essential to electrification as the panels, batteries and mini-grids it manages. It lowers costs, builds investor confidence and strengthens electricity systems.
That is why ARE supports and partners with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) on Digital Energy, a programme for digital innovation in African power systems. Led by the AFD Group, co-financed by the European Union and aligned with the Global Gateway strategy, it delivers digital solutions tailored to local realities, to improve operator performance, accelerate energy access and support decarbonisation.
Join our I4E webinar, “Software, Digitalisation and Optimisation” on 29 October 2026 at 14.00 CET to see the solutions shaping what comes next.
