In this episode, we speak to Naomi Kioi from Greenlight Planet, one of the largest solar companies in Africa. Greenlight Planet is a social-mission, for profit company which has sold over 1.3m of their Sun King products since 2009 working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria, expanding at a rate of over 65,000 new solar installations per month.

We discuss:

• The growing influence of telecoms companies in off-grid energy
• How energy access companies are partnering with telecoms companies to expand their customer reach
• Greenlight Planet's goals and how to market solar energy to off-grid customers

Show notes:

• (1:30) Introduction to Greenlight Planet and their focus on SDG 7; their vertically integrated business with manufacturing and distribution
• (4:00) Intro to the role of telecoms in the energy access sector: focus on hard to reach areas where telcos have a physical presence; leveraging the data that telco markets have on customer information
• (7:30) Greenlight Planet's partnerships with telcos - how they work
• (11:00) Use of telco data to provide customer financing and alternative payment solutions
• (13:50) The opportunity of energy access to help telcos diversify their revenue base and customer services
• (23:00) The goals of Greenlight Planet and plans for the coming years
• (27:00) The impact of COVID-19 on off-grid energy - increase of digital and mobile payments; more pre-purchase of energy
• (30:00) Naomi's background and her work in Greenlight Planet - how to market solar to customers
• (38:00) Partnerships as the way to accelerate the deployment of solar in off-grid energy