Overview

Our vision is that all rural Africans should live in modern homes. We combine 1) best-in-class technology adapted to rural settings, 2) mobile-enabled consumer financing to make our products affordable, and 3) last-mile distribution to bring them right into our customers’ homes. Our mission starts with pay-as-you-go household solar, and we are raising seed financing to grow our operations in Côte d’Ivoire.

Problem

200m West Africans lack electricity in their homes. Rural households in Côte d’Ivoire spend c. 20% of income on energy, but few can afford the up-front cost of solar systems, and available products are of low quality. Most people rely on higher-cost, often lower quality alternatives such as disposable batteries or small generators. High energy costs prevent consumption of other goods and services.

Product

Our entry-level solar systems provide lighting and phone charging, and we will progress to larger systems in year 2. Customers pay for their systems via mobile money and work towards ownership over 12-36 months. Systems are locked if payment is late. We will diligently focus on data collection in order to develop a robust credit risk framework and to maximize payment performance given a variety of factors, including seasonal incomes. This also lays the groundwork for up-selling of products once customers have saved money on energy.

Distribution

Our last mile distribution is deeply embedded into the communities where we work. We have 2 tiers of commission-based sales agents, who are selected from rural communities and trained in product installation, basic maintenance, and sales techniques. Agents will be supported from our network of regional hubs that will serve as centres for logistics and inventory, regional sales force management, and after-sales. Once distribution is set up, our pay-as-you-go model will extend to efficient cook-stoves, electrical appliances, and other consumer goods that modernise life in rural areas.

Addressable Market

Côte d’Ivoire is our launch pad into West Africa. >1m rural households are projected to still lack electricity in 2020. Customers are mainly smallholder farmers with seasonal incomes. Based on our surveys, we target the 2/3 of this market that has household income above $125 per month, and willingness to pay for energy above our SHS monthly price point.