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BBOXX
Cover Feature
Cover Feature
BBOXX
ELECTRIFYING AFRICA
MANSOOR HAMAYUN BBOXX is one of the world’s most successful venture-backed companies, developing innovative solutions for providing affordable, clean energy to off-grid communities in the developing world. By: Nicholas Paul Griffin
Sacha Poignonnec co-CEO Africa Internet Group
BBOXX is one of the world’s most successful
VC-backed companies providing affordable, clean energy to off-grid communities.
B
BOXX designs, manufactures, distributes and finances innovative plug & play solar systems to improve energy access in off-grid areas. More than 100,000 BBOXX products have been sold in more than 35 countries, improving the lives of over 500,000 people. Aspire Africa recently took the opportunity to speak with co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mansoor Hamayun, at his London offices to discuss the innovation, success and vision behind BBOXX.
The Developing World “BBOXX started some six years ago,” Mr Hamayun explains, “as a company out of Imperial College, where we recognised the problem that four billion people don’t have access to electricity, and to us that was an unacceptable reality.” The company’s three co-founders met whilst studying Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Imperial. They had all travelled in the developing world and recognised the challenges posed to community and business development by the unreliable electrical supply. Considering electricity to be a fundamental requirement for an acceptable quality of life, they began the business with the aim of developing a business model and technology capable of providing this essential service. The company is now fully vertically-integrated, controlling every part of the customer experience, with market-leading products and appliances and a SMART Solar platform 4
Mansoor Hamayun · Co-Founder/CEO, BBOXX
that brings machine-learning and customer experience optimisation to rural Africa. “The vision of BBOXX is a very simple one, that is to give the on-grid experience in the offgrid world. So, we want to be able to electrify people, to have the same sort of functionality that we enjoy here in the west, to be able to be delivered across the developing world.” The company achieves this by harnessing Africa’s incredible ability to leap-frog technology. Africa was one of the first continents to embrace mobile technology as a primary form of infrastructure. “Mobile Money has also leap-frogged traditional forms of cash and banking systems, and we are just part of that bigger trend. Distributed energy, solar-panelling in individual houses, which is becoming a big thing in the west, is now becoming a normal thing in Africa.”
The vision of BBOXX is a very simple one, that is to give the on-grid experience in the off-grid world.” Mansoor Hamayun
BBOXX
(L-R) Christopher Baker-Brian (CTO), Mansoor Hamayun (CEO), Laurent Van Houcke (C0O)
BBOXX Smart Solar Home System
Aspire Africa · Issue 5.0
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Our main markets in Africa are Rwanda and Kenya. We install between 200 and 400 new households per day.�
Mansoor Hamayun
We are part of the digital payments and distributed solar revolution.” Mansoor Hamayun
BBOXX
BBOXX engineers installing solar roof panels “So, we are part of that revolution around digital payments, around distributed solar and also our ability to take advantage of the fact that millions and millions of people want electricity but don’t have it, and we are there to provide that service.”
Solar Home System At face value, BBOXX’s flagship product is a very simple construction. A small solar panel and battery is installed into each household, allowing people to power their everyday household appliances. “The key innovation really lies in what’s inside the box, which is remote monitoring
and remote control. So we can remotely see every single system—where it is, how it’s behaving—and we can even predict some problems months before it actually takes place.” This allows the company to provide a proactive service to its rural customers. The key challenge in distributed solar is to deal with distributed problems, meaning having knowledge of a problem before it arises becomes a vital part of the service. “Our main markets in Africa are Rwanda and Kenya,” Mr Hanayun explains. “We install between 200 and 400 new households per day. One of the biggest challenges that we have is distribution and marketing.” Aspire Africa · Issue 5.0
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BBOXX has over 40+ retail outlets in Rwanda and Kenya.
Without an existing fundamental infrastructure for the product, the company must be responsible for creating it. The company’s 40+ retail outlets in Rwanda and Kenya allow this to happen, with the number growing rapidly. Another key consideration is an HR package. “We’re normally the first formal employers in the regions that we enter, so a large part of our effort in starting a new territory is spent on training and equipping people with modern IT tools to make them productive members of both BBOXX and their communities.” The impact on these communities is tremendous and instantly visible. People
A BBOXX customer is located in a rural, offgrid area, earning a living by farming.
are moving seamlessly from burning jet fuel and kerosene to having modern electricity, allowing them to charge phones easily and cheaply for themselves and their communities. A BBOXX customer is typically located in rural, off-grid areas, earning a living by farming coffee or vanilla bean on small plots of land. Some, especially around the Great Lakes, are fishermen who catch tilapia and nile perch. The economic impact on these customers is clear. Where people are working on average household budgets of around $14 a month for their energy needs, BBOXX is able to come in at a price point that is less than $7, offering immediate savings for many customers.
The BBOXX team demonstrating how to use the BBOXX Smart Solar Home System
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Mansoor Hamayun · Co-Founder/CEO, BBOXX
We’re normally the first formal employers in the regions that we enter, a large part of our effort in starting a new territory is spent on training people.” Mansoor Hamayun
BBOXX
Family enjoying the benefits of installing the BBOXX Smart Solar Home System
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$2.4 Million has been saved by BBOXX curstomers on energy expenses to date.
Just under 4GWhrs of energy has been generated by BBOXX customers.
“It’s about being connected. If they get more electricity, their ability to do more things in life is greatly enhanced. They have constant communication. They have safety in their homes. They can access the internet now for the first time, they can watch TV at home.”
“We have been very lucky to be able to build our partnerships. Our bigger partners include Engie, which is the world’s largest utility. We also have a very close partnership with the Rwandan government in regards to the off-grid electrification programs.”
The level of participation of these customers in the wider society, in Mr Hamayun’s opinion, increases massively when they are on-grid.
Other relationships have been formed with farming groups, helping reach rural customers in the developing world. The company also has over 450 employees working on its payroll, and over a thousand agents working alongside it.
That’s why he believes that access to electricity is a fundamental human right, enabling people to live truly fulfilling lives.
“We have a close partnership with a few universities that we do research partnership with, and also for recruitment purpose.
Looking Forward
Ultramodern Office Complex, Eaton Place, situated in the plush suburb of Gigiri in Nairobi
10 Mansoor Hamayun · Co-Founder/CEO, BBOXX
It’s about being connected. If they get more electricity, their ability to do more things in life is greatly enhanced.�
Mansoor Hamayun
www.bboxx.co.uk
So, this has really been the result of many partnerships coming together.” BBOXX is continually recognised for its success and has been honoured with several awards, including the Santander Breakthrough 50 Business Excellence in Energy Innovation, and was named 4th out of 54 applicants for the National Geographic Terra Watt Prize in 2014. So what does the future hold for BBOXX? “Scale,” Mr Hamayun says, “that’s really what we want. Today, we have 200-400 installations a day—we want to grow that 10x over the next twenty-four months. That’s a huge challenge.” The company will be looking to take the regional business in East Africa and turn it into a global enterprise. There are still a lot of people both inside and outside Africa that do not have access to electricity. “Some countries like Nigeria, DRC, Angola are very under-served markets, and those
are markets that we see huge opportunities in. There are many challenges, but the opportunities we think are far bigger than the challenges that they present.” Mr Hamayun admits that in order to close the energy gap in Africa, people must be innovative in finding solutions, as the product that will succeed in fully electrifying Africa does not yet exist. “If you think you have something, try it,” he advises. “I think data is the key. Solving the energy problem in Africa really means solving the data problem—who is your customer? What do they need? How much can they afford? How can you grow with them?” These are the questions that underlie any potential future energy solution. It is not a simple product problem, Mr Hamayun says, but a problem that requires innovative outof-the-box thinking to provide a real-world change. ASPIRE
Click below to watch our Exclusive Interview with Mansoor Hamayun
12 Mansoor Hamayun · Co-Founder/CEO, BBOXX
I think data is the key. Solving the energy problem in Africa really means solving the data problem.�
Mansoor Hamayun
www.Aspire-Africa.com
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