Major telecommunication companies in Africa are providing the infrastructure that solar market leaders such as Greenlight Planet are taking advantage of it to serve millions of un-electrified consumers across the continent.
With the natural synergy between telecommunication companies and the pay-as-you-go solar industry, the company is pursuing a strong telecom-focused strategy that aims to have a far-reaching impact across the African continent.
The company has collaborated with more than fifteen telecom operators, banks and payment gateways to make Sun King products more affordable and accessible for rural individuals, increasing long-term value for a common consumer base.
Full-fledged sales and distribution partnerships have been launched with three leading telecom operators, Vodacom (Tanzania), Orange (Burkina Faso) and Telma (Madagascar), to enable sales of solar-powered energy solutions through each operator’s subscriber base and mobile money channels.
In addition, Greenlight Planet has integrated its innovative PAYG technology platform with leading mobile money providers across sub-Saharan Africa, enabling consumers to make continuous installment payments in a secure and simple way. Greenlight Planet establishes unique operating models with each telecom partner to best serve and work with each service provider’s strategic goals, local business model and competitive landscape.
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“The time is right for telecoms to look beyond their traditional revenue earning models and explore innovative partnerships that can lead to a sustained increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) and customer retention,” Dhaval Radia, Senior Vice President at Greenlight Planet said “By expanding to rural consumer segments with value-added services such as PAYG solar products for daily energy and infotainment, telecom operators can help deliver higher value to their customer base.”
Recent collaborations between PAYG solar companies and telecom operators have demonstrated that PAYG solar customers are amongst the most active profiles of mobile money users in sub-Saharan Africa, many opening their first mobile money account specifically to purchase a PAYG solar home system.
Ninety-eight percent of Greenlight Planet’s PAYG customers make roughly 60 mobile money payments between $2 and $5 each over a period of twelve to twenty-four months to complete their installment payment plans for a PAYG solar device. The company has processed nearly 40 million mobile money payments from customers in Africa in the last three years.
This is a technology Africa’s most populous nation can take advantage of to provide for the country’s over 80 million Nigerians living in 8000 villages across without access to electricity.
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According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a multinational professional services network with headquarters in London, only one in five people in Nigeria has access to power from the electricity grid. This leaves four in five people living in urban and rural communities to fend for themselves with makeshift and localised power solutions.
“It is critical that Nigerians take steps to understand and embrace the new starting points for energy provided by stand-alone renewable technology and mini-grids. We believe these solutions provide a viable, bottom-up solution to the patchy availability of electricity in Nigeria,” Pedro Omontuemhen, partner and lead, Power and Utilities said.
But with more than 100 million mobile money subscribers, and nearly 600 million people that lack reliable access to electricity on the African continent, opportunities for telecoms and the distributed energy sectors to join forces remain tremendous, particularly in Nigeria.
Since inception, Greenlight Planet has installed nearly six million solar products, benefitting over 24 million individuals, across Sub-Saharan Africa through its direct distribution channels in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda and through more than 200 strategic alliances in 32 countries across the African continent.
