Burkina Faso to access clean energy as companies join forces

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Burkina Faso to access clean energy as companies join forces

In times long before human civilization, energy had always been essential for humanity to develop and thrive. It’s pretty much the same in our time today. So crucial is it that the achievement of many of the other SDGs is hinged on access to electricity.

To this end, the Burkina Faso government wants to increase access to energy, accelerating development in the country as electrification rates are at 18%, and only falling to 5% for the rural population.

In a bid to facilitate more access to clean energy in Burkina Faso and other countries, two major companies have entered into a partnership.

Bboxx, a global provider of services dedicated solely to the electrification markets in developing countries, and Geocoton Advens Group, a major industrial operator in Africa have taken the first step in forming a long-term strategic partnership that will see to the expansion of clean energy access in other African countries.

This new collaboration will make access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy possible to the underserved population- two million people- in Burkina Faso.

In the same vein, the partnership will also create employment for more than 500 locals, pushing economic development and local opportunities.

Through its tested and reliable model, Bboxx Pulse, a platform that helps scale up energy access to remote places using traditional grid infrastructure, Bboxx has brought off-grid energy to countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Rwanda, and Togo. The Bboxx Pulse model will equally be deployed in Burkina Faso.

The Geocoton Advens Group has been operational in Burkina Faso, and other countries of West and Central Africa, for over seven decades.

Their presence in the country has strengthened the development, industrial transformation as well as export of cotton cultivation by small village farmers and a network of more than 350,000 cotton producers who have huge energy demand.

Bboxx and Geocoton Advens Group aim to provide energy to this established cotton farming market, the wider value chain and distribution networks within these communities, and the broader Burkina Faso population.

Bboxx will provide vital energy access in these areas through Geocoton Advens Group’s operations, which will allow people to generate an income.

In addition to its Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Solar Home Systems (SHS), Bboxx plans to introduce additional services in the country, such as PAYG LPG clean cooking services and solar-powered water pumps for farmers.

Since SHS are more affordable, it allows customers to pay for what they use, considering that 43% of the country’s population lives on less than US$1.90 a day.

According to CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx, Mansoor Hamayun, energy access rates in Burkina Faso are very low, yet the potential to positively impact people’s lives for the better, through clean energy is immense.

“Forging strategic partnerships is core to how we bring together the financing and momentum required to provide millions of people with much-needed clean energy.

This market entry is the first of many, and we’ve got an exciting pipeline of activity ahead of us on our mission to transform lives through access to energy.

As we gear up to COP26, we cannot let our foot off the gas if we are to make meaningful progress on meeting UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 – clean energy for all.”

He believes that now is the time to seek even more collaboration, innovation, and action. “Across the globe, the ‘build back better’ agenda has taken center stage – but to truly accelerate greener and fairer economic development, we need to bring people out of energy poverty,” he added.

Expressing his delight at the partnership, Karim Ait Talb, COO of Geocoton Advens Group said, “providing renewable energy to the rural population is a major challenge, so it is important we take advantage of the technological progress by Bboxx. 

Bboxx’s innovative technology and proven approach to expanding access to clean energy is something we’re excited to be a part of – and we have been impressed with their progress to date across Africa.”

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