Pay-go solar energy helps 30,000 Zambian households

Fenix International outpaces industry growth to reach 150,000 Zambians in nine months

Fenix now provides solar home systems to 30,000 Zambian households

Leading pay-go energy company Fenix International, part of global utility ENGIE, has reached 30,000 Zambian households just 9 months after expanding into the country in partnership with telecom MTN. This rate of growth exceeds the company’s initial expectations and far outpaces the industry average, cementing Fenix’s place as a market leader within the off-grid solar sector.

Approximately 12 million Zambians live without access to the electrical grid, representing 75 percent of the total population.[1] This rises to 95 percent of rural residents, with people living off-grid primarily relying on candles, kerosene, and batteries. Fenix’s solar home systems are designed to extend safe, clean and reliable energy to these individuals, and the lease-to-own business model makes the systems ultra-affordable to last mile customers.

Fenix’s expandable range of solar home systems also allows individual households the flexibility to match their system to their existing energy budget. The success of this positioning means that Fenix has been able to quickly reach customers in every province in Zambia.

After establishing a strong base in Uganda, Fenix expanded to Zambia in exclusive partnership with MTN Zambia, part of Africa’s largest telecom. Fenix customers use MTN Mobile Money to finance their solar systems, whilst MTN’s brand and distribution network help Fenix to quickly scale across the country.

Fenix, a wholly owned subsidiary of ENGIE, is the only pay-go energy company which is part of a global utility. This strengthens Fenix in its mission to improve customers’ quality of life through inclusive energy and financial services.

Lyndsay Handler, CEO of Fenix International, comments: “This marks a great milestone for the entire Fenix Zambia team. ReadyPay Solar Power System is now providing power for clean, bright lights, phone charging, satellite TV and more to over 150,000 people in off-grid Zambian households. The impact on our customers and their communities is transformational: household income is boosted; families are safe from dangerous and polluting kerosene; children can complete homework after darkness falls.”

Moses Phiri, Head of Mobile Money, MTN Zambia, says: “We are exceptionally proud to partner with Fenix. By combining Fenix’s quality ReadyPay Solar Power System with MTN Mobile Money, we have brought clean, affordable energy to over 30,000 customers in Zambia.”

Moses adds, “MTN Mobile Money is rapidly growing and changing the lives of so many people in so many ways. We are excited by Fenix’s results in such a short period of time and looking forward to the months ahead as they continue to scale across the country alongside our Mobile Money offering”.

John Foye, Managing Director of Fenix International Zambia, adds: “Everyone on our high-performing team is excited to get out of bed in the morning to achieve our mission. Thanks to their passion, we have seen incredible growth in Zambia. That said, there is still a long way to go. We will keep working to chase the darkness away across Zambia, with our customers at the centre of everything we do.”

About Fenix International

Fenix is a next-generation, end-to-end renewable energy company that does everything from design, manufacturing, sales, financing and customer service. Fenix’s flagship product, ReadyPay Power, is an expandable, lease-to-own home solar system financed through ultra-affordable instalments over Mobile Money.

Fenix uses real-time transaction data to create a next-generation credit score to finance power upgrades or other life-changing loans. To date, Fenix has sold over 250,000 ReadyPayPower systems and has a growing product portfolio and geographic reach, with the aim to bring power and a wider world of financing to millions of customers by 2020.

Fenix is now part of ENGIE, the multinational utility, the first Solar Home System (SHS) firm to join a major worldwide energy company.

For more information visit www.fenixintl.com

About ENGIE Africa

For over 50 years, ENGIE has been active in many African countries through its energy engineering business, its natural gas purchase agreements with Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria and more recently as an independent power producer in South Africa and Morocco with a total capacity of 3,000 MW either in operation or under construction. By 2025, ENGIEwants to be a reference partner in ten African countries for power plants, energy services to businesses and decentralized solutions for off-grid customers – communities, companies and households. ENGIE already has more than 1 million people with domestic solar installations and local microgrids, and aims to become one of the viable leaders on the continent’s off-grid service market.

ENGIE is keen to develop its energy services capabilities in Zambia targeting the tertiary sector (shopping center, data center, hospital, office building) as well as the industrial sector (mines, F&B…) with ‘all in’ energy efficiency services including Financing, engineering, installation, Operation and maintenance. For more information, go to www.engie-africa.com.

For more information, interviews or images contact either Melissa Sidnell (Melissa@flamepr.com) on +44(0)20 3357 9741 or Maya Harruna (Maya@flamepr.com) on +44 (0)20 3357 9748. You can also email fenixintl@flamepr.com

[1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS