ARE Member Bboxx secures grant to power homes impacted by Covid-19 in East Africa
1 July 2021 – ARE Member Bboxx has announced a new grant awarded by KawiSafi Ventures Limited through the KawiSafi Technical Assistance Facility, to ensure energy access to the customers in Kenya and Rwanda who have been the most negatively impacted by the pandemic.
Bboxx has a strong history of positively impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in East Africa with access to clean, reliable and affordable energy. Bboxx manufactures, distributse and finances decentralised solar powered systems across the region – and Bboxx has been leveraging their innovative Internet of Things technology to commercially scale access to vital utilities and power sustainable economic development.
The grant is a uniquely customer-facing support mechanism that will go towards Bboxx customers impacted by Covid-19, specifically in Rwanda and Kenya. Bold and smart financing like this enables them to help thousands of customers who have been most affected by Covid-19. It will give customers up to three months of free energy access and after-sales service to maintain their solar home systems (SHS), taking off the financial pressure while ensuring they can still access vital energy.
It acts as a continuation of the ‘crisis energy’ schemes Bboxx introduced last year in some of its markets, where they provided bonus days of energy for free for customers who paid upfront. While demand for energy – an essential need – has remained robust throughout the pandemic, innovations like these are important to safeguard customer segments who may have been adversely impacted.
Since the pandemic hit last March, causing economic uncertainty for many across the globe, the off-grid energy sector has remained resilient and will play a significant role in the post-pandemic green economic recovery.
It is encouraging to see the sector increasingly recognise the urgent need to take action on tackling energy poverty. Bboxx urges more partnerships like these to ensure we can continue to accelerate access to energy and advance UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – energy for all.
https://www.bboxx.com/news/bboxx-secures-grant-to-power-homes-impacted-by-covid-19-in-east-africa/