A UK-backed clean energy initiative has helped extend access to clean energy to about 46 million people in emerging economies while supporting more than 256,000 green jobs and attracting over £3 billion in public and private investment.
The figures were released on Monday ahead of the Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium scheduled to hold at the University of Oxford.
The symposium is being organised through the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund in partnership with the Africa-Oxford Initiative, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership and UK Research and Innovation.
According to the organisers, the fund has helped establish a research and innovation network operating across 100 countries, bringing together 78 universities and more than 840 researchers, innovators and delivery partners.
“To date, Ayrton-supported innovations have improved access to clean energy for 46 million people across emerging economies, leveraged more than £3bn in public and private finance and supported more than 256,000 green jobs,” the organisers said.
Beyond energy access and employment, projects supported through the initiative have resulted in 191 technology patent applications and contributed to more than 2,400 research papers.
The symposium is expected to focus on ways of moving clean energy research from universities and laboratories into practical solutions capable of reaching communities facing energy shortages and climate-related challenges.
Caroline Ward, Senior International Funds Manager at UK Research and Innovation, said the event would provide an avenue for researchers, investors, policymakers and innovators from different countries to strengthen partnerships.
“The Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium provides an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration between universities, innovators, funders and policymakers across the UK and partner countries,” Ward said.
She added that bringing experts together could help create fairer partnerships, unlock investment and speed up the development of clean energy technologies capable of supporting economic growth and climate resilience.
The Africa-Oxford Initiative also stressed the importance of African researchers in developing solutions suited to the continent’s energy and environmental realities.
Its Director, Professor Kevin Marsh, said African researchers would be central to tackling challenges such as energy poverty and the transition to cleaner sources of power.
“African researchers will play a critical role in developing solutions which tackle global challenges such as energy access and green transitions,” Marsh said.
He said turning research into measurable impact would require closer collaboration among universities, innovators and investors, pointing to the initiative’s decade-long support for hundreds of African researchers, scholars and innovators.
The impact of the programme is also being felt in Nigeria, where Professor Misbahu Mohammed of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said participation in the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership had helped reshape renewable energy education at the institution.
Mohammed said the partnership contributed to strengthening the university’s Master of Science Renewable Energy Programme through the introduction of two practical courses: Local Solutions for Energy Access and Appliances for Off-Grid Communities.
He said the courses were designed to bridge the gap between classroom theory and practical solutions for Nigeria’s energy challenges.
“My involvement with TEA-LP has significantly strengthened our MSc. Renewable Energy Programme by introducing two practical, context-relevant courses, Local Solutions for Energy Access and Appliances for Off-Grid Communities, that bridge the gap between theory and real-world application,” Mohammed said.
He added that the experience demonstrated how external partnerships and targeted funding could accelerate curriculum development within universities.
“Most unexpectedly, the past three years have shown me that partnerships like TEA-LP can catalyse curriculum reform faster than traditional university processes,” he said.
Mohammed further argued that African universities should be treated as partners in shaping energy innovation rather than simply recipients of externally designed programmes.
The first phase of the Ayrton Fund ran from 2021 to 2026 through 40 UK-funded programmes involving more than 1,000 partners globally.
Its second phase is now in progress and is expected to continue until 2030.
The initiative comes as Nigeria and other African countries increasingly turn to decentralised renewable energy systems to expand electricity access, particularly in rural and off-grid communities where conventional power infrastructure remains limited.
