The United Kingdom-backed Ayrton Fund has improved access to clean energy for 46 million people across emerging economies, while mobilising more than £3bn in public and private finance and supporting over 256,000 green jobs.

The figures were contained in a statement issued on Monday ahead of the Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium at the University of Oxford.

The symposium is being convened by the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund in collaboration with the Africa-Oxford Initiative, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership and UK Research and Innovation.

The fund’s programmes have built a global research and innovation network spanning 100 countries, involving 78 universities and more than 840 innovators, academics and delivery partners.

The initiatives have also generated 191 technology patent applications and contributed to more than 2,400 research papers as efforts continue to turn scientific research into commercially viable solutions for communities facing energy poverty.

Senior International Funds Manager at UK Research and Innovation, Caroline Ward, said the Oxford meeting would strengthen collaboration among universities, innovators, funders and policymakers across the clean energy sector.

Director of the Africa Oxford Initiative, Professor Kevin Marsh, said African researchers would play an increasingly important role in developing solutions to energy poverty and supporting green transitions.

A Nigerian academic at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Professor Misbahu Mohammed, said his participation in the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership had helped strengthen renewable energy education at the university.

The first phase of the Ayrton Fund ran from 2021 to 2026 through 40 UK-funded programmes involving more than 1,000 partners worldwide.

Its second phase is now underway and will run until 2030, with a focus on accelerating clean energy innovation, energy access and climate resilience.