The failure of many African governments to provide electricity from national grids has led to a boom in off-grid providers, especially those that provide solar home systems on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Across Kenya and Uganda, M-KOPA has sold over 1 million solar home systems, and recently hired an executive to ramp up operations in Nigeria. PEG Africa provides a similar service in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Mali. Zola Electric, which announced that it has raised $90 million this week, operates in five countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
But to be sustainable, these companies must efficiently collect payments from consumers who are either low-income or resident in rural households. In Nigeria, arguably Africa’s largest market for alternative energy due to the 89 million people without electricity, one way to help companies achieve this efficiency is to take advantage of infrastructure already enabling financial inclusion.