Africa’s Off Grid Electric partners with EDF

By Polycarp Kazaresam

Off Grid Electric (leading distributed solar company in Africa) and EDF (global leader in low-carbon energies) today announced a partnership to supply competitive off-grid solar energy in Africa. This partnership will take the initial form of joint venture ZECI in Ivory Coast. This first joint venture aims to supply power to nearly 2 million people in Ivory Coast by year 2020, with plans to rapidly extend the partnership’s initiatives to other countries in the region.

Within the scope of this joint venture, ZECI, EDF and Off Grid Electric will install and maintain solar kits for rural and peri-urban households. These individual kits include solar panels, which are easy to install, along with batteries for storing energy. Payment can be made through the simple use of a mobile phone. Customers will therefore have access to lighting and will be able to power a suite of energy-efficient household appliances including television sets, radios, fans and mobile phone chargers.

Rolling out this initiative in West Africa will create thousands of new sustainable jobs (over 1000 jobs in Ivory Coast alone), from sales managers to call-centre employees, who will benefit from Off Grid Electric and EDF in-house training. Giving customers the option to use a renewable energy source like solar energy also benefits the environment by replacing candles, paraffin, and kerosene.

“We’re thrilled to partner with EDF, an industry leader whose presence in Africa, combined with its experience, will enable us to grow Off Grid Electric’s footprint across the continent,” said Bill Lenihan, President and CFO, Off Grid Electric. “Access to reliable energy is a challenge throughout Africa and our partnership with EDF will help us to meet this challenge. Through energy independence, we hope to see households and communities seize new opportunities.”

“Off Grid Electric is the perfect partner for EDF, with its excellent knowledge of the African continent and a proven track record of providing innovative and competitive solar solutions,” said Simone Rossi, EDF Group Senior Executive Vice President, International Division.

He also stressed that “EDF is delighted to partner with Off Grid Electric, thus enabling the latter to benefit from the Group’s extensive expertise in the area of customer relations. This will be an opportunity for us to share the experience we have gathered from supplying energy to more than 30 million customers worldwide, to the advantage of new customers in West Africa.”

Off Grid Electric received the UNFCCC’s Momentum for Change 2016 Award at The 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) held by the United Nations in Marrakech, Morocco. The Momentum for Change initiative is spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat to shine a light on some of the most innovative, scalable and replicable examples of what people are doing to address climate change.
 

African Business Review’s November issue is now live.

Stay connected: follow @AfricaBizReview and @WedaeliABR on Twitter.

African Business Review is also on Facebook

 

Share

Featured Articles

Abu Dhabi Airports prepares for Terminal A opening

A decade in the making, Abu Dhabi International Airport welcomes 6,000 volunteers to test operational readiness of stunning new Terminal A building

Business Chief expands portfolio with new look and coverage

Business Chief Middle East & Africa launches with fresh new look and extended coverage of the region, with exclusive executive interviews and insights

How Octopus Energy grew to become an industry giant

Octopus Energy continues to grow after a deal was agreed to acquire Shell Energy in the UK and Germany, taking its customer base to almost seven million

Perkbox CEO: How to support employees through tough times

Human Capital

How Middle East is embracing the future of digital finance

Corporate Finance

UAE Lulu Group shifts business for global growth and IPO

Corporate Finance