Powering sustainable development

Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy for all

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This week, our #UnlockingOneMillion campaign focuses on energy.

Energy access at the core of what we do: it forms the purpose of our company. Energy is far more than a utility and acts as the key to unlocking potential and

transforming lives.

This week we are at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum (GOGLA) to discuss our work to drive forward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

We are relentlessly striving to close the energy gap and in doing so to combat widespread poverty. Energy access is bringing people into the digital economy, helping them to power their businesses, transforming communities and providing the light that students need to advance their studies and get ahead. Through the provision of energy, we are advancing several more SDGs: from driving the creation of jobs and inclusive economic growth (SDG 8) to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education (SDG 4).

To date, we have positively impacted over one million lives by providing access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy. We are committed to meeting all energy needs and at GOGLA, our team will be discussing how the upcoming bPower20 will ensure no one is left behind. Our upcoming entry level plug and play solar home system (SHS) is specifically designed for rural households and microbusinesses who are at the first stage of accessing energy and will meet their initial energy requirements.

Bboxx represents a first step up the energy ladder for the vast majority of our customers. They are no longer dependent on unreliable grid networks or inefficient and potentially dangerous energy sources including torches and flashlights, kerosene lamps, solar lanterns, or candles and are instead provided with a clean, reliable and affordable SHS.

Alex Mbanjineza, a farmer in Ndera, a village about 15 kilometres from Rwanda’s capital is one such customer. Before Bboxx, long days and a lack of light prevented him from carrying out his duties at home, including cooking and looking after his livestock. Now he can be as productive at home as he is at work and his children can also better read and study, instead of using a torch and straining their eyes.

“Stop living in darkness. Bboxx solar power is affordable and they make it easy to pay."

The transformational effects of a SHS have been felt by not only our customers but also our employees. We currently employ 800 people across the UK, Africa and China, many of whom have witnessed customers experiencing energy access for the first time.

Andrew Kent has worked at Bboxx for over six years and heads up the Customer Development team, based out of Kigali. The team is responsible for meeting all customer needs: from providing technical advice and guidance to processing payments and credit. They not only analyse problems but develop effective and efficient solutions which are then implemented by the team responsible for Bboxx Pulse™ − our comprehensive management platform that enables distributed utility businesses to achieve scale and better manage customers, products and employees dispersed across remote locations.

Speaking of his experience working with customers, Andrew shares that “sometimes understanding the customer involves analysing data. And sometimes it means hoeing cassava (badly) to understand their daily lives and dream up better ways of serving them through new products, services, and processes.”

Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed hundreds of positive customer testimonials which speak to the multitude of benefits energy access brings. From increased business productivity, to better safety and study conditions for children, our solar home systems are transforming people’s lives globally.

There is still a lot to be done: 1.2 billion people across the globe currently live without electricity while a further 1 billion are connected to an unreliable and expensive electrical grid. But by continuing to put our people – both employees and customers – at the heart of what we do, we will keep generating impact and expanding the benefits of energy access across the globe.