Dubbed the "CIZO Cheque", households with BBOXX solar home systems will be granted a monthly subsidy of 2,000 FCFA ($3.50) over a three-year period. BBOXX's solar home systems are available to customers via mobile money on a pay-as-you-go basis. This subsidy will encourage people to opt for clean solar energy as opposed to kerosene - contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goal 7, to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
BBOXX is a next generation utility transforming lives through affordable utility provision. The company has been operating in Togo since December 2017, after being awarded a tender to install 300,000 solar home systems by 2022 across the country, largely in rural areas. In 2018, BBOXX and EDF entered a partnership with EDF holding a 50 percent stake in BBOXX's Togo operations, operating as the brand "BBOXX avec EDF" in Togo - accelerating investment and deployment of off-grid electricity.
Less than a fifth of Togo's rural population has access to electricity, which is a major stumbling block to economic development. The "CIZO Cheque" will first focus on 11 regions in Togo with the lowest electrification rates, and this forms part of the Togo Government's national electrification strategy, the "CIZO" initiative - which means lighting up in the local "Guin" language.
Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of BBOXX, commented, "This pioneering initiative is a major stride forward in tackling a key obstacle to achieving universal electrification in Africa - this being that many customers are still living in poverty. Overcoming energy poverty is the first step in overcoming poverty as a whole - as access to electricity brings people into the digital economy and fosters financial inclusion.”
Marc Ably-Bidamon, Togo Minister of Energy, added, "Access to electricity is a basic need and the Government of Togo is committed to achieving 100 percent access for all by 2030, by ensuring that no one is left behind.”
