Three social enterprises working within rural energy supply
received international recognition at the SEED Africa Awards symposium in
Nairobi, Kenya on September 10, 2014. The three companies are Kumudzi Kuwale
from Nkhotakota, and Electricity4All and Powered by Nature based in Blantyre.
Honey Products Industries from Lilongwe also received an award for empowering
honey-producing farmers. The SEED Initiative, initiated by the UN Environmental
Programme, identifies and supports promising small scale social and
environmental entrepreneurs who work towards a greener economy and tackle
poverty, marginalization and social exclusion.
The representatives of
the solar energy enterprises in Malawi that won SEED Awards, from left: Deus Byson,
Martina Kunert and Trygve Mongstad
“It is clear that the unique energy situation in Malawi
spurs substantial innovation within the energy sector”, explains Martina Kunert
from Powered by Nature. “When around 90% of the population still lack access to
electric power there is a great potential and a need for enterprises like the
ones we represent.” Kunert is also the Board Chair of the NGO Renew’N’Able
Malawi which is helping to coordinate
civil society and private sector actors under the UN Sustainable Energy 4 All
campaign. “We hope that these awards will help us progress, and expect the
governmental bodies to provide their support in further development of the
renewable energy sector in Malawi,” she adds. Solar energy solutions and energy
efficient cookstoves may provide a stepping stone to increased standard of
living, enhancing health, education and economy for rural Malawian families.
“Our technologies can also contribute greatly to reduced pressure on Malawi’s
highly depleted forests and forex expenditure on paraffin, as well as better
agriculture efficiency”, Kunert mentions.
All three companies are, independently, working to promote and sell solar energy solutions and clean cookstoves, and emphasize on access to clean lighting and charging for all as their goal. One of the technical solutions under exploration by the enterprises is the construction and operation of battery charging stations in rural villages. The villagers, rather than buying a complete system, only purchase or rent a few LED lamps. To power the lamps, batteries are rented and returned to the charging station. “When the villagers don’t need to undertake the cost for the batteries and the solar panels, the investment is within reach for most people, even in remote villages. We charge about K5,000 for connection of a couple of lamps and later the customer pay about K300 weekly for charging the batteries”, explains Trygve Mongstad, the Norwegian general manager of Kumudzi Kuwale. “The villagers are extremely grateful for our program, and we hope we can show that after our pilot phase we can operate the stations with a profit”.
“We are bringing in quality, affordability and after-sale support, which has been lacking in most of the energy products that Malawians have been buying up to now” states Deus Byson from Electricity4All. They focus on developing the solution of battery charging stations further, in what they call Energy Kiosks. The company already operates four Energy Kiosks in the Mulanje and Thyolo districts, with plans underway to distribute solar home systems to all over the country.
There is also an increasing demand for offgrid power solutions for business, industry and agriculture in Malawi, as this example of a solar-powered water pump installed in July 2014 by Kumudzi Kuwale.
In general there is a great interest for solar energy
services in Malawi. “Our solar expertise is also wanted by many businesses in
the region, and we see an increasing demand for off-grid electricity
solutions,” states Mongstad. The three awarded entrepreneurs, who together believe
in a bright future for solar energy in our country, are grateful to bring the
SEED Africa Award home to Malawi. They appreciate the support to the Malawian
winners by the government of Flanders, Belgium.
