Bboxx, a pan-African super platform providing access to essential products and services, and Orange, a major telecommunications operator, have partnered to launch a new connected community through an anchor business community (ABC) model across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
The mini-grid project helps to accelerate the provision of clean energy access for households across the DRC, transforming lives and unlocking potential for all.
Together with GoShop, the largest solar EPC company in the DRC, Bboxx has created a joint venture company to build a hybrid mini-grid plant to supply energy to Orange’s telecoms infrastructure. 85% of the energy will be generated through solar panels, connecting the local community around the telecom tower to clean energy solutions and services.
Bboxx aims to connect more than 600 households in Bukavu by the end of 2022, and is working with the rural energy agency to get into a subsidy programme which will enable low-income customers to have access to basic energy supply.
Bboxx will also be partnering with Orange Energie to integrate Orange’s Smart Metering platform and Bboxx Pulse, Bboxx’s proprietary fully integrated operating system. The merger of these technologies will enable the close monitoring of the mini-grid’s performance and the remote management of customers, including collecting and managing payments through PAYG (pay-as-you-go) solutions.
Using this innovative and cost-effective ABC model, Bboxx plans to launch 24 additional mini-grid projects with Orange across the DRC over the coming months, electrifying 150,000 people by 2024 and directly addressing the electrification challenge in the country.
This partnership is the first of many within Bboxx’s Connected Community programme, which will see the potential delivery of 750 mini-grids for one million customers across Africa within the next five years.
Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and co-founder of Bboxx, commented, “We are incredibly proud to have provided more than 2.5 million people with access to clean energy and other products to date. These kinds of partnerships are vital towards connecting more customers across Africa to essential modern utilities, transforming even more lives and ultimately unlocking more potential.”
Akim Musimwa, regional director of Grand-KIVU Orange DRC, said, “Orange wants to be much more than a telecom operator in the DRC. The company wants to be a provider of essential services to the population. The development of solutions enabling as many people as possible to have access to essential daily goods such as sustainable and clean energy, is a strong message towards our company’s ambition."
