Mobile money for light

ECONOMY

by THE OLBIOS TEAM

Nuru Energy co-created with households earning less than $2 per day, a unique off-grid mobile-money enabled, recharging platform that uses either human energy or solar power to fast recharge Nuru Energy’s portable LED Lights (5 lights recharged in 20 minutes) as well as mobile phones and other USB-charged devices. The organization deploys its innovative technology via a network of micro-franchises operated by village level entrepreneurs, who sell Nuru Lights and then provide recharging services for a small fee. Nuru Energy was seed-funded by the World Bank in 2008, commercially financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund in 2011 and currently operates in East Africa and India. Their bottom-up approach is evident not only in every product that they develop, but also in the way that we deliver these products to market. They work with local organizations to recruit and train micro-franchise entrepreneurs, Nuru Energy Entrepreneurs, who sell Nuru’s LED lights to their community and then offer POWERCycle™ recharging services for a small fee, typically earning in 20 minutes what they previously earned in an entire day. For its efforts, Nuru Energy has been recognized as the recipient of numerous global awards.

 

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