The Off-grid is the cheapest and fastest way to connect rural people to electricity. The Togolese government has understood this well by launching a few months ago a project called 'CIZO' which aims to connect 2 million inhabitants in the next five years through solar kits.
First to come on the market is the British company BBOXX. Another operator, SOLEVA, will launch its services on 1 June in Vogan (45 km from Lomé).
The project, headed by the Togolese Charles Séna Ayenu, is led by the Paygo Ventures, a consortium of Wawa Energy Solutions and Aphelion Energy.
SOLEVA will offer kits payable over 3 years. The company plans to recruit about 600 young salespeople.
The off-grid works from a fairly simple technology. The equipment includes solar panels and batteries to store electricity. Customers can power a set of household appliances (TV, radio, fan, etc.) in low consumption.
The invoices are paid directly through prepaid mobile phone platforms such as T-MONEY (Togocom) and FLOOZ (Moov).
The off grid is already very developed in East Africa (Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, in particular). It is the simplest and most economical solution to provide access to electricity in rural areas where the traditional electrical grid does not allow it.