Bakulu Power is a young company focused on building a renewable energy “mini grid” for residents of Lubya Island in Uganda’s Lake Victoria. With promising technology, the company has completed fund-raising rounds, garnered interest from customers and has the support of the Ugandan government. But Bakulu Power still has a big challenge: When its mini grid is constructed, how can the company build additional demand for electricity?

With just 24 hours, eight teams of University of Michigan students worked furiously to answer that question in our first-ever Case Competition, held in early 2020. And while this event was a first in WDI’s history, is just one of countless examples how the Institute’s work embodies our mission: “To equip economic decision-makers in…emerging countries with the tools of commercial success,” as envisioned by the Institute’s founder William Davidson more than 25 years ago.