Innovative Tools for Accelerating Off-Grid Project Development (Case Study Nigeria)

Philipp is an international expert in island energy supply and rural electrification. He conducted a PhD in engineering about 'Barriers to implementing renewable energies on Caribbean islands' at the TU Berlin. In 2011, he joined the Reiner Lemoine Institut and he started to develop the Off-Grid Systems Research Unit, which he is currently heading. Within the Unit, he develops and manages projects and strategic processes. In 2019 Philipp was appointed Visiting Scholar in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) of the University of California, Berkeley as part of the C-BEAR+ project and he is a selected member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Since 2020 he is also leading the RLS-Graduate School on Energy System Transition with currently 6 PhD students.

Ruth has over 20 years of experience, working with both national and multinational technology organisations and the renewable energy industry. She started her career as a sales trainee, then executive administrator at Galaxy Backbone Plc (GBB, former GITT). During her time at GBB, she developed a wealth of knowledge and experience across various departments serving Sales, Business Development and Project Management Lead responsible for the technical department team in her unit. She transitioned to Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA) as the Regional Manager for Abuja and Northern Region with the key responsibility of developing and executing initiatives to increase market share among Public Sector groups in the region. She has built a wealth of knowledge through professional trainings over the course of her career. She joined the Creeds team in 2019 as General Manager operations and coined the LiteDey brand which encapsulates what the company, Creeds Renewable Energy's drive is about. She is an alumni of the Lagos Business School She is currently the Chief Operations Officer and a director of Creeds Renewable Energy.

Clara Neyrand holds a master's degree in Geographical Development Research from Freie Universität Berlin. She is working as a researcher at Reiner Lemoine Institut in Berlin, Germany since 2017. Her research focus is on socio-economic aspects of electricity access by applying quantitative and qualitative methodologies. She is currently coordinating two research and development projects in Nigeria that aim to contribute to off-grid electrification in non-urban communities.

Ifeoma Malo is an organizational management expert with over 23 years' experience, building and directing organizational policy and strategy in energy and large scale utility markets, public health, bio technology, leadership, change management and infrastructure finance. She is the Co-Founder/ CEO, Clean Technology Hub Nigeria. Ifeoma Malo was previously the Country Director for Power 4 All where she drove the market and community development campaign for decentralized renewable energy in Nigeria through the initiation of participatory in-country regional programs and activities. She was also the Senior Technical adviser to the Honorable Minister of Power and provided senior strategy advisory to advance electricity access, built communities and livelihoods and provided a more stable, sustainable and secure energy future across Nigeria. Ms. Ifeoma is a Caux Scholar, African Leadership PIA Fellow, Desmond Tutu Fellow, Crans Montana New Leader Fellow, Acumen West Africa Fellow and also the Global Leadership Academy-We Africa Network. She is a Commonwealth Leaders Scholar-CSC Leaders. She is also a member of boards that include:GreenPeace International, Access to Energy Institute (AE21), Extractive 360 and Norrenberger Financial Service. Clean Technology Hub Nigeria is a pioneering hybrid hub for the research, development, demonstration and incubation of clean and green ideas and technologies in Africa, and their validation for commercial-stage development. The Hub was founded in 2016 and is located in Abuja, with virtual hubs spread across the country.

Maria is a researcher at Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. She has twenty years' experience in sustainable energy and climate policy, of which five in Nigeria, with active involvement in the country's NDC, renewable energy, industrial decarbonisation, and clean cooking policy spaces. Maria also collaborates with the WISIONS of Sustainability programme, a long-term initiative of the Wuppertal Institute which empowers people and communities in the global South to be the drivers of the energy transition. Other fields of research include just transition in coal- and carbon-intensive regions, and circular business models and policy for the solar off-grid sector. María is a member of the Division 'Future Energy and Industry Systems' of the Wuppertal Institute. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Science in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London.