Out of the BBOXX thinking comes solar-powered electricity to Africa

Three engineering students have turned a charity project into a Dh11 million enterprise that has provided power in 14 countries and 15,000 homes in Africa.

An estimated 500 million people live in Africa without electricity. In many places the infrastructure does not exist and expensive diesel generators are out of reach.

But over the past few years, BBOXX, a small London-based business has been revolutionising the lives of thousands through a little solar-powered box of electricity and now the company is planning to provide electricity to 20 million people in Africa by 2020.

What began as a charity project in Rwanda for three engineering students - Mansoor Hamayun, Christopher Baker-Brian and Laurent Van Houcke - at London's Imperial College in 2008 has become a successful enterprise that has generated almost US$3 million (Dh11m) in sales since the BBOXX business was established in 2010.

It took three years to design the product, a portable box that generates electricity to power household items. It can either be charged through the main plug, the grid or using the solar panels on the top. On the sides are sockets and USB outputs to plug devices in.

As a charity, the trip raised more than $400,000 in a couple of years and the small team managed to provide electricity to 2,000 people in Rwanda.

Today BBOXX has a presence in 14 countries including Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Sudan and Uganda.

BBOXX employs 140 people across Africa and has electrified 15,000 households, or nearly 35,000 people, on the continent.

"There are considered to be 500 million people without electricity in Africa, so when you consider the market size it is huge and the challenge is massive," says Mr Baker-Brian, executive partner of technology at BBOXX. "We're just scratching the surface and we plan to push that, to develop the technology, financing and business support to reach the vision."

While the company raised $100,000 from private investors, its growth has been funded by money generated from sales.

The boxes range from $80 to $2,500 in price providing 60 watt hours of stored energy to 1440Wh. The cheaper ranges can power LED lights, low power TVs and phones.

With the abundance of sunshine in much of Africa, the product has become a cost-effective and reliable solution to providing electricity for some. These boxes of electricity can be found in war zones and war-torn countries, from rural villages to government offices.

Initially NGOs and government entities made up the core client base, but now BBOXX's main clients are small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger households.

"The main user we target are those that want to making a living out of our products," says Mr Baker-Brian.

Small shop owners looking to diversify their range of services have leased out the boxes for charging mobile phones, or use them to power small televisions in the evenings. Others use them to power juicing machines to set up a bar. Even barbershops have made use of the boxes for hair clippers.

BBOXX operates on a franchise model, selling the distribution rights to a local partner who assumes responsibility for the imports and for setting up local teams. "This is one of the ways we have been able to grow very quickly," says Mr Baker-Brian.

Ground staff travel from village to village with pop-up tents to demonstrate and sell the products. "We have faced difficulties getting the products into Congo and South Sudan, but we always work with local partners who know the area well," he says.

According to Mr Baker-Brian, there has been a marked increase in economic activity in the villages and areas where they have been successful with their product.

"The average African household spends 20-30 per cent of their income on energy. With BBOXX, that is a massive amount of money they can save and it has been very beneficial for the economy of the village," says Mr Baker-Brian.

Prices for solar panels have also dropped dramatically since the team began operations. The dollar per watt, a common metric for the industry went from $3.5-$4 to $0.80-$0.90.

"It has become an affordable technology for Africa, before it was governments and NGOs that had access to solar energy, but now it is considered a mass market electrification solution. Solar power in Africa is really booming because of that price drop," says Mr Baker-Brian.

For most in Africa, however, even $80 up front for the cheapest box is a substantial that they cannot afford. In-keeping with BBOXX's charitable foundations, the company is launching a financial plan to widen its reach.

The new financing scheme will allow customers to lease the box. Technical teams can monitor the usage of each device and be alerted to problems and glitches should they occur.

"We are looking outside Africa now and into Asia and Middle East. In Asia we have focused on Pakistan and India and will be going into Bangladesh later this year. In the Middle East we are working on projects in Lebanon and Iraq," says Mr Baker-Brian. "We are very excited about where we are going and it will take a lot of hard work to reach our 2020 vision."