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% of the total population. This rises to 95% 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. After establishing a strong base in Uganda, Fenix expanded to Zambia in exclusive partnership with MTN’s local unit. Fenix customers use MTN Mobile Money to finance their solar systems, whilst MTN’s brand and distribution network helps Fenix to quickly scale across the country.
Lyndsay Handler, CEO of Fenix International, said: “ReadyPay Solar Power System is now providing power for 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: “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.”
