This Is M-Kopa Offers Affordable Prepaid Solar Ability Using ‘Pay-As-You-Go’ Concept To Rural Africa
M-KOPA Solar is the global leader of “pay-as-you-go” unloose energy for off-grid customers to rural Africa. Since its commercial launch inwards Oct 2012, M-KOPA has connected to a greater extent than than 280,000 homes inwards Kenya, Tanzania as well as Republic of Uganda to solar power, as well as is directly adding over 500 novel homes each day.
M-KOPA stands for M=mobile as well as KOPA= to borrow – aims to brand solar products affordable to low-income households on a pay-per-use instalment plan.
Initially customers larn solar systems for a small-scale deposit equally per programme as well as and then buy daily usage ‘credits’ for U.S.A. of America $0.50, or less than the cost of traditional kerosene lighting. After completion of 1 twelvemonth payment, customers ain their solar systems outright as well as tin upgrade to to a greater extent than ability if they need.
U.S.A. of America President Barack Obama amongst June Muli, M-Kopa’s caput of client care, during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit inwards Nairobi inwards July 2015 (Photo credit: M-Kopa via Forbes)
M-Kopa estimates that lxxx per centum of its customers alive on less than $2 a day. Three-quarters of them rely on small-scale farming equally their master copy or secondary rootage of income; the residuum run small-scale businesses. Energy accounts for a pregnant sum of their spending.
Photo credit :Georgina Goodwin
The company’s ability arrangement costs $200: It includes a solar panel, ii LED bulbs, an LED flashlight, a rechargeable radio, as well as adaptors for charging a phone. The kit comes amongst a two-year warranty, as well as its battery is designed to final at to the lowest degree 4 years. It’s a perfect off-the-grid solar arrangement for Africa, where land-based infrastructure is hapless as well as electricity render is oft erratic.
M-Kopa has sold nigh 300,000 units inwards Kenya, Tanzania, Republic of Uganda as well as Ghana. It sells 500 units a hateful solar daytime as well as it aims to sell 1-million M-Kopa systems yesteryear the terminate of 2017. It employs 650 people inwards the 4 countries as well as a farther 1,000 champaign agents, equally reported yesteryear Forbes.
M-Kopa’s founders’ background amongst mobile payments saw them looking for a agency to apply that sense to solve other emerging marketplace problems. Providing solar unloose energy to people at the so-called “bottom of the pyramid” was it.
M-KOPA has been recognised for its pioneering describe of piece of employment organization model as well as scale, notably winning the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize, beingness selected equally the laissez passer on New Energy Pioneer at the 2014 Bloomberg New Energy Finance awards as well as earning the 2013 FT/IFC Excellence inwards Sustainable Finance Award, reports M-Kopa.
