Replicability across countries

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DSPs are already striving to increase the affordability of their solutions through different pricing models, cheaper entry-level solutions and free trial periods. However, support from investors and donors – both of whom value greater access to digitally captured impact data – can also help unlock the benefits of digitalisation for smaller LMDs.

An example is the Innovate UK Energy Catalyst grant provided to a partnership between Upya Technologies and the LMD GIVEWATTS. This grant facilitated the design and implementation of innovative crowdfunding and customer pooling business models to reduce the cost of energy for end-users in Kenya. This partnership allowed Upya and GIVEWATTS to successfully pilot their more innovative products and weather the impact and restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing an example of how donors are increasingly turning to the private sector to enable market-based development solutions. (Learn more about this partnership in this video.)



Software interoperability
While LMDs aspire to use all-in-one integrated digital solutions, the reality is that the industry remains largely fragmented, so most distributors use multiple, often unconnected solutions. Working toward the interoperability of solutions through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and open-source software offers opportunities to optimise costs and processes, but DSPs often face challenges in agreeing amongst themselves on the terms for integration with LMDs. And though larger players may simply aim to expand their own feature systems to cover most LMD needs, this can be very difficult to accomplish given the diversity of these needs, and it may result in increased cost for LMDs.

When reflecting on the digitalisation of the last-mile france whatsapp number data distribution sector, it is important to consider the breadth of the industry and the increasing number of channels that LMDs operate in – and that DSPs, by extension, must provide solutions for. It is only by working closely with LMDs that solution providers can understand the variety of channels that these distributors work in. After gaining a fuller understanding of LMDs’ multifaceted needs, DSPs will be better able provide flexible and modular solutions to help them digitise their operations, across sectors ranging from PAYG solar, clean cooking and agriculture, to communications, carbon credit tracking and emerging industries like e-mobility. The interoperability of these solutions is tested when they must work alongside LMDs’ existing in-house tools, and this is where flexibility and modularity are critical to delivering an easy-to-use and streamlined service to distributors.



Digital solutions are generally easy to replicate across geographies due to their cloud-based nature and their product-agnostic focus – i.e., they generally apply to all product categories that LMDs sell. However, engaging with local telecommunications companies (telcos) and mobile money providers can involve a long and bureaucratic process that presents a major barrier for DSPs (and also for LMDs), limiting their ability to expand their operations in new markets. To address this challenge, DSPs and LMDs can engage with aggregators that act as intermediaries in the integration process with telcos and mobile money providers. Developing a good understanding of telco requirements, and leveraging the support of industry-wide platforms such as GSMA, can also be key to facilitating cooperation with mobile operators.