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00:00You finance miniature solar systems in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Can you just start by telling me what's the bigger challenge for your company. Is it the financing aspect or the technology of the renewables and batteries. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. First of all Jeb. Yes. So you know I think the biggest problem we are trying to solve is one of energy access. So you know 600 million Africans like DAX. DAX we operate in Sierra Leone and Liberia. You're really looking at more than 75 percent of people without access. And so for us really the technologies were already in place. And by and large most of the consumers we serve on low income are in very distributed areas across rural areas and don't have access to finance. So hum system. And so in the absence of a grid and in the absence of money to finance systems what we really do is to make the energy not just accessible through our distribution network. It was affordable by financing these technologies. And so I think the big thing that is new and innovative and exciting is really going the last mile to consumers who can't afford it and making these systems affordable. What kind of innovations are coming down the line in this area. Brown financing that really excited. Yes. So I mean I think the biggest in it really is smart for the smart technology of these systems. Right. So you're talking about. Generation systems start from like a really basic solar lantern all the way to like more residential type solar. And in a lot of these systems now you're having bidirectional communication. So what that means is if you have a full system right. If somebody can't afford that system up front you can shut it off remotely. So that allows people to pay a deposit basically at a level that they can afford and then they do it on a rent on financing system so they can finance that over time. And there's no limitation to that. Right. Because 90 percent of our customers are unbanked or rural areas have over half of them are what you call below the bottom of the pyramid. So below the poverty line. And so these are people who have never been able to access a form of credit. Credit lines. And so by financing all of our systems anywhere from like six months up to three years. Now what they're able to do is really establish a credit history and become visible for the first time. So the. And so what we're able to do is not just limit them to like one system where we credit score them. And so you can start really with the basic sort of land to upgrade to a solar home system appliances productive use which is a really interesting thing that we're looking at now actually getting people not just you know household solar but productive systems that can generate an income. And you know when you look at like 600 million people off grid and the majority of them being in rural areas I think you're looking at a lot of untapped potential. And people have really not thought about what that means to have those people online and financially visible time. Yeah. Because are seeing suggests that that might reshape people's lives in other ways as well beyond energy. Yeah exactly and we're actually looking at you know we definitely see ourselves as more of like a power. We provide the power solution but we also look at the devices and it's an interesting evolution that's happening in the industry. One thing that we're doing and also seeing Uganda is integrated energy systems. And so we. Its distribution network and financing capabilities and a big problem with many grids often sufficient demand especially in rural areas where you don't have like a big offtake or big industrial person to take the majority of the load. And so if you have these distributed solar companies that have the financing capabilities they're able to ISE devices that increase that demand on a mini grid. And so really we see ourselves as you know really almost a hybrid CAC player where we can provide the power solutions that we can to drive up demand for power with other players in the sector like mini grids. So I'm going to move on to a question about policy because a number of European countries and also South Korea have said they're going to stop financing fossil fuel projects. Presumably that's very encouraging for you and your industry. But do you think countries in West Africa can actually leapfrog fossil fuels and just go straight to renewables. So theoretically yes. And I think it's definitely in the part of the industry. I think mother should. But I also think it's important to look at where we are in history and. Africa is being asked to do some good in a clean way and cost efficient way. At the same time and sometimes those are competing realities. I do think that know solar technology and renewable energy technology is becoming cost competitive where you know in rural areas you are seeing the deployment of off grid technologies really leapfrogging in some ways the traditional get grid infrastructure. But I do think there needs to be an integrated approach. I don't think it's fair. And I think even when you look at the contribution of Africa to the climate crisis you know I think there's two sides of the story. One is the energy transition. And by and large there are five or six economies that have contributed 75 percent of global emission. I think we should learn about justice in the energy transition when it comes to developing. The 3 percent to global carbon emissions since the 18th century. So really I think focusing and then sort of banning fossil fuels completely I don't think is the solution. I think we need to get that. But I think we need to have a more complex view and. I think we need to have a pissing contest not just when it comes to. Edged towards a effort towards. Look what happened next year from the money to. That's great. Thank you. I'm having a few technical issues. I hope that everything worked out your end. You spoke at the White House climate summit in April. And U.S. President Joe Biden has made you know he's coming back to the Paris agreement. Do you think do you see now that the US is doing enough. Have they put forward enough money to help developing countries deal with the worst impacts of climate change and invest in clean technologies. So the short answer is no. So we know that different investments last year between 300 and 400 million. And what we need you know there's different estimates but anywhere between eleven billion to about 40 billion depending on who you ask in annual investment to get universal energy access by 2030. So we are nowhere near the level of investments that we need to leave no body behind and achieve but equitable and just energy transition at energy access. So I think a lot more needs to be done. Just look at the numbers. And yeah I think there's there's a lot of players within the sector who are quite vocal. We are trying to think of it like a blend of capital sector's debt equity and ground moving definitely but not at the level that it needs to be. You weren't worth a tenth less. To get there and to leave nobody behind.

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Africa’s New Solar Grid

In Africa, where half the population lacks access to power, inexpensive solar-powered microgrids offer the promise of development while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from burning wood and crop waste. Easy Solar makes solar energy accessible and available in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Catalyst Nthabiseng Mosia, Easy Solar Co-Founder discusses the project with Bloomberg Green reporter Jess Shankleman. (Source: Bloomberg)

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