In June, OffGridBox expanded to another country: Zambia! We installed the first OffGridBox under the SNV-sponsored program Innovations Against Poverty. We are working together with the Women’s Initiative for Delivering clean Energy to Africa ( Widenergy Africa Ltd ), which is a women-led company, registered in Zambia, dedicated to the last-mile distribution of clean, reliable, and affordable energy solutions.
As always, our focus is on delivering access to clean water and renewable energy for remote communities. According to the World Bank, only 14% of Zambia’s rural population has access to energy, whereas only 53% of the rural population has access to safe water.
In Zambia, which is not so densely populated, our partner WidEnergy found some initial locations for deployment. Here, they are implementing a subscription model, whereby customers have unlimited access to clean water and recharges of their power bank for a monthly fee.
These base of the pyramid customers do not have a lot of resources, but we are planning to introduce some income-generating activities such as barber salons and phone charging businesses.
If you want to help us implement more projects, you can do so here.
About OffGridBox
OffGridBox is an all-in-one sustainable solution providing clean water and solar power to people in remote areas. OffGridBox is the brainchild of founders Emiliano Cecchini and Davide Bonsignore from 2014. They became inspired to create more efficient technical solutions after working on several OXFAM clean energy projects in South Africa that took more than 3 weeks to install. Since then, the founders produced about 80 boxes deployed in a dozen countries, serving thousands of people in difficult circumstances. Projects range from disaster relief to rural electrification. OffGridBox is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the company’s mission is to provide affordable clean water and electricity in remote areas. For more information about OffGridBox, please visit https://www.offgridbox.com