Parallax aims to influence decision-makers at all levels in order to bring about policy, institutional and procedural change that will help to achieve sustainable development solutions. We believe that the people who should be setting the agenda are those living in rural communities who are so often the targets for unsolicited "assistance". A goal is to enable the poor women and men with whom we work to interact with and ultimately direct the policy-makers and investors that offer external support.
Through its advocacy, Parallax aims to achieve greater and more sustainable impact from its work. Our focus is on the supply of environmentally sound energy solutions, most often for people in remote rural communities of Africa. To achieve this, we believe that such solutions must be affordable, accessible and acceptable.
Affordability is an often-cited issue in this field and facilitating relevant financing mechanisms must be a key focus to meet the practical needs. Achieving cost-effective access for rural people to appropriate energy sources is similarly a central challenge that is widely recognised. Equally important, we believe, is the need to offer acceptable energy supplies to rural people. This requires significant awareness-raising at all levels, from rural consumers, to service providers, equipment suppliers and the relevant layers of government policy-makers.
The need for investment into mechanisms that can address these issues points towards an increased need for public-private sector partnerships. The great potential of rural markets for commercial business is associated with risks that must be offset by the social and economic development value of rural energy supply. A combination of public and private sector resources is often needed to reach common goals.