How an organisation structure redefined development of the Emerging World (Part 1)

Aaron K. Astley

For those unaware, my career has largely been in energy infrastructure development in Emerging markets, my journey has spanned the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia, going to some amazing countries like Iraq, Libya and Somalia. My journey in energy infrastructure has been as challenging as it has been transformative. Operating in emerging markets at a young age taught me lessons about resilience, sovereignty, and the power of innovation.

I was thrust into emerging markets at a relatively young age as an entrepreneur operating in the utility-scale infrastructure space. The industry is dominated by imperialistic corps with decades old balance sheets. Much of my competitiveness came from not competing at all.

War is only justifiable when all possible alternatives have been completely exhausted — Sun Tzu

Guided by Sun Tzu’s principle, I realized that competing directly with established players in a saturated market was futile. Instead, I developed strategies that elevated my position, leveraging local partnerships and untapped opportunities to bypass traditional competition entirely.Infrastructure investment in emerging markets is still very imperialistic. With much of the developing World stuck in IMF debt schemes, infrastructure is generally used as a bartering chip by maturer nations.

After a few years of developing technology transfers of some our IP, I began to network with much of the local people and entrepreneurs. The experience was life-changing and gave me an understanding no other individual in policy or sovereign development has come to understand or address until I did later with the Sovereign Development Partnership.

What I identified in most of these markets was that there were capable individuals, contractors and local project developers in these markets but lacked certain resources and capabilities to tender their own projects. I would frequently come across project contracts seeking funding that were years old, or local developers sitting on MOUs with no funding.

Further, the foreign power producers were risk adverse in entering the market until a certain maturity stage existed. This coupled with the extended periods to reach financial close led to roadblocks in local project development. I once reviewed project documentation for a solar initiative in Africa that had been stagnant for seven years due to lack of funding and bureaucratic delays. This typified the need for a new development paradigm

It was clear, new structure was needed. So I-kWh and the Mesh organisation structure was developed. Through I-kWh and the Mesh organization structure, we created decentralized, stakeholder-focused frameworks that empowered local developers to lead projects, secure funding, and achieve financial close faster than ever before.

These experiences laid the foundation for my belief in decentralized, sovereign frameworks that prioritize local empowerment. As I continue this journey, my focus remains on building systems that ensure sustainable, inclusive growth in emerging markets.

Thank you for reading part 1, part 2 I will break down the organisational structure.