Credit scheme gives Kenya’s poor easy access to solar power

IT IS early evening in Ndabibi village in Naivasha, and there are threatening clouds overhead. Kenneth Njoroge quickly parks his motorcyle by the mud structure that serves as his kitchen and rushes into the main house before the rain starts pounding.

Until recently, Njoroge’s home, north-west of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, was poorly lit at night. Most people in Ndabibi are not connected to electricity, and rely on paraffin or small solar lamps to light their homes.

But one month ago, the 55-year-old father of seven decided to stop using paraffin. A loan from a micro-finance institution has made it possible for him to invest in a solar power system for his home.

The credit is part of a scheme being rolled out across the country to provide asset financing for families not connected to the main power grid.

Njoroge’s new kit consists of a solar photovoltaic panel, three light bulbs, a battery, a radio, a torch and three charging ports.

The equipment has done more than provide better lighting at home and eliminate his paraffin bills. He no longer has to buy batteries for his radio and torch, nor go to the local shopping centre to charge his phone.

Njoroge is chairman of Mwanzo Mwema, a savings group formed two years ago in Ndabibi that now has 30 members.

Each month, members contribute money that is deposited with Musoni Kenya, a micro-credit firm, based on mobile payments. They can then take out loans based on the level of their savings.

After saving for a year, Njoroge started borrowing to buy a motorbike, lease farmland from his neighbours, and buy seed and fertiliser so he could grow more maize and beans to eat and sell.

In June, Leah Mugambi, a Musoni credit officer based in Naivasha, talked to the group about the new solar home systems it was offering in partnership with d.light, an international social enterprise specialising in solar products for off-grid consumers.

“Many people here do not have a connection to the national grid, so when I came to inform them, everyone in the group was interested,” Mugambi said.

Njoroge was the first member of Mwanzo Mwema to take out a loan to buy a solar home system.

Getting grid electricity is a long process in most of rural Kenya, involving tedious application forms and high fees.

Njoroge applied for a connection to the national grid two years ago, but has yet to see Kenya Power and Lighting Company employees in his neighbourhood.

“I know that I was due to pay around 30 000 shillings (about R3 800), but they have not come back since I made the application,” he said.

By contrast, it took two weeks from the time he applied to Musoni for the loan until he was able to pick up the solar home system from the organisation’s office in Naivasha.

“Connection was easy too because everything was clear. I put the panel on the roof and then hung the lights inside. We used it that same day,” he said.

As well as being cheaper than paying monthly bills for grid electricity, Njoroge realised the solar home system would be more affordable than paraffin in the long term.

Njoroge is paying 1 760 Kenyan shillings every month for 12 months, after which he will own the system outright, having paid about two-thirds of what it would have cost to get a grid connection.

The system is designed by d.light so that as each loan instalment is paid, the customer receives an activation code that allows them to use the system for the coming month.

Jonathan Nyongesa, d.light’s director of finances, said progress in end-use efficiency, supply and storage performance had seen the cost of providing off-grid electricity with solar photovoltaic cells and battery storage fall by 40% in 18 months.

“We think in the next five years, it is going to be possible to bring highly affordable solar products to the market,” he said. – Thomson Reuters Foundation