FUNDED PROJECTS

4R Digital, in partnership with Davis & Shirtliff, aims to bring affordable, climate-smart solar irrigation solutions to up to 35,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya – spurring the transition away from unsustainable and inefficient hand, petrol and diesel pumps. With support from PREO, 4R Digital has developed and trialled a digital Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) platform to be incorporated into pre-existing solar pumping kits, supplied by Davis & Shirtliff. In addition to providing a payment facility, the platform also allows for remote monitoring and locking of the equipment whilst providing full visibility to customers of their own financial data through the account management system.

Access Afya, through the CURAFA™ initiative, is working to improve healthcare access and sustainability in underserved rural areas of Kenya by securing off-grid electricity for its healthcare facilities. With PREO funding, CURAFA™ has implemented an innovative business model that integrates primary healthcare services managed by local pharmacists and nurses. These facilities are powered by rooftop solar systems, ensuring a consistent power supply for essential operations, including e-health devices and patient data management. This project, covering five facilities in Kajiado, Machakos, and Kiambu counties, aims to enhance healthcare continuity and contribute to universal access to primary healthcare.

AceleAfrica manufactures and sells new and second-life battery packs to e-mobility companies. The company’s flagship initiative – the Scaling Affordable and Expandable Batteries Through e-waste Repurposing (SAEBeW) Project, aims to repurpose 125,000 discarded lithium cells into IoT-enabled, second-life batteries for solar applications.

Leveraging it’s regional expertise in cell repurposing, AceleAfrica, with support from PREO, is introducing an innovative cell testing-as-a-service model for solar home system companies. The project’s ambitious implementation plan includes constructing over 100 energy storage systems using repurposed batteries. These systems will be enhanced with integrated IoT technology for advanced monitoring and management capabilities. The company will then pilot the deployment of these repurposed energy storage systems in selected communities to assess their effectiveness and gather valuable user feedback. Through this comprehensive approach, AceleAfrica aims to advance sustainable business models for scaling and commercialising repurposed battery solutions.

Afya Research Africa (ARA) is improving healthcare in rural Kenya by installing decentralised solar energy systems and implementing a digital health information management system called STONE across its network of medical centers and public health facilities. With PREO funding, the initiative aims to address challenges like inefficient paper-based health records, poor healthcare access, and inadequate clinical operations by providing the necessary technologies to enhance the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality of care, particularly benefiting young mothers.

Many rural smallholder farmers in East Africa struggle to afford mechanisation, leading to labor-intensive farming practices like ploughing and milling still being done by hand. With PREO funding, BODAWERK seeks to address this issue by creating the AgrE-Hub, a service provider offering mechanization powered entirely by renewable energy. The AgrE-Hub will feature E-traks, versatile electric two-wheel tractors, and swappable smart batteries, all supported by a cost-effective DC solar mini-grid. This integrated, scalable model aims to enhance energy use and overcome barriers to traditional mini-grid adoption, making clean energy a viable option for rural farming communities.

BURN designs, manufactures, and sells affordable, energy-efficient cookstoves to low-income households in developing economies. With support from PREO, BURN has expanded its product line by introducing the Kuniokoa TURBO Stove, a more efficient and cleaner-burning forced draft biomass stove compatible with Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar systems. The TURBO stove addresses the limitations of the earlier Kuniokoa model by using a fan to improve combustion, enabling it to burn various types of fuel, including wet wood and agricultural waste, faster and cleaner – producing significantly less smoke and air pollution when compared to traditional open fire solutions.

Café Kivu, a Congolese coffee company, seeks to address the global issue that local coffee growers earn only a small fraction of the profits from coffee sales, with most of the revenue generated outside the country of origin, and local consumers are priced out of the finished product. By sourcing, roasting, packaging, and marketing coffee locally in the Kivu region of DR Congo, Café Kivu captures more value at the origin and promotes economic development. With funding from PREO, the company aims to scale production using energy-efficient electric roasters powered by a solar hybrid plant, expand distribution through a franchise system, and create job opportunities for local young people and women. Additionally, Café Kivu seeks to reduce its coffee’s total carbon footprint from seed to cup expand into export markets in the US, Middle East, and Asia.

Chaji, an electric vehicle charging company, is targeting the e-mobility sector in Kenya’s major urban centers. The company sells Electric 2-Wheeler (E2W) and Electric 3-Wheeler (E3W) chargers to third-party hosts, primarily Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMMEs), in Nairobi and Mombasa. Its business model allows host businesses to generate additional revenue by collecting a share of the charging fees. In collaboration with Simbacorp, Chaji is investing in research and development to create rapid chargers capable of reducing charging duration to just 2-3 hours, significantly enhancing user convenience. The PREO-funded project’s ambitions include the installation of 70 fast EV chargers across 10 strategic third-party host sites, including commercial centers, SMEs, and community-level shops in Nairobi and Mombasa. Beyond technology deployment, Chaji aims to test and refine fast charging technology to further reduce electric 2-wheeler charging times. Additionally, the company is developing tailored financing mechanisms for electric 3-wheelers, addressing a critical barrier to adoption in the region.

Founded in 2018, Charm Impact addresses financial exclusion for clean energy entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa by providing funding. The company’s investment model blends private, concessional, and philanthropic capital to help local businesses build credit history. In March 2023, Charm Impact received a grant from PREO to establish a first-loss provisioning pool, which mitigates investment risks and attracts more private investment. Over the course of an 18-month program, Charm Impact plans to issue five to seven loans ranging from £10,000 to £350,000, focusing on locally owned and female-led enterprises to help promote greater economic development and increased gender equality.

Founded in 2016 in Somaliland, ClearSky Power (CSP) is focused on meeting the region’s growing energy needs with renewable solutions. In 2021, with funding from PREO, CSP introduced 1 Shariah-compliant solar photovoltaic drip irrigation systems to local farmers, offering a novel financing option for renewable energy. The initiative is aimed at replacing costly diesel power with decentralised solar energy to boost farm productivity, reduce energy costs, and increase water efficiency. After two years of successful implementation, CSP plans to scale its impact by installing solar irrigation systems on 20 more farms.

Drop Access, established in 2021, is a Kenya-based manufacturer of ‘VacciBox’, an innovative vaccine preservation and cooling solution designed for both human and animal health sectors. Supported by Villgro Africa and DeveloPPP, the company develops portable, lightweight units equipped with real-time IoT controls. Notably, Drop Access manufactures 100% of its units locally, procuring over 70% of components within Kenya, and has already sold 60 units. It’s latest initiative, with funding from PREO, introduces a cooling-as-a-service model, aiming to provide 100 solar-powered refrigerators to health facilities. This approach can offer considerable advantages, including increased vaccination rates and substantial cost savings by reducing vaccine wastage. The solar-powered refrigeratorswill be provided to public health facilities in Kenya at an affordable cost of just $4 per day, with the potential to improve vaccine distribution and storage in the region while supporting local manufacturing and utilising renewable energy.

Ecobodaa, a Kenyan e-mobility start-up, aims to offer affordable electric motorcycle taxis in Nairobi through a lease-to-own model. After a 2020 trial with 10 electric motorcycles, the company discovered that riders, who typically earn around USD $2.70 daily, struggled with upfront battery swap costs. In response, Ecobodaa introduced a digital micro pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) platform, allowing users to carry forward unused battery power financially, akin to petrol payments – improving cash flow management for drivers. In October 2022, Ecobodaa received a PREO grant to expand its fleet by 50 units and commercialise its PAYGO technology, promoting socio-economic development in the local community by supporting driver livelihoods and reducing urban pollution.

Kenya-based company Ecobora specialises in providing clean cooking solutions to institutions and schools. With a track record of supplying and installing briquette cooking and water heating boilers in 112 rural schools and 16 food processing industries, Ecobora has moved to a focus on advancing solar-powered cooking technologies. With support from PREO, the company is manufacturing and installing solar-powered cooking boilers, offering a “Cooking-as-a-Service” model coupled with Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) solutions for schools. This approach presents a sustainable alternative to traditional firewood cooking methods. To further enhance operations, smart meters and temperature sensors will be integrated to improve efficiency and monitoring capabilities. In addition, Ecobora also sees potential in unlocking carbon financing as a secondary revenue stream, highlighting the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and financial viability.

ENGIE Equatorial is a joint venture between ENGIE Energy Access, an international renewable energy solutions provider, and Equatorial Power, a local low-carbon energy infrastructure and services developer based in Kampala, Uganda. An estimated 30,000 fishing boats are operational in Uganda’s territory of Lake Victoria, almost all of
them powered by petrol engines. With support from PREO, ENGIE Equatorial has piloted 15 electric boats (e-boats) on Lolwe Island and powered them through its 600kWp mini-grid.

Good Nature Agro (GNA) aims to enhance agricultural productivity in Zambia by introducing solar-powered borehole and irrigation systems which will enable farmers to grow crops during the dry season – increasing farming seasons from one to up to three per year while boosting incomes. GNA’s initiative, with funding from PREO, focuses on sustainable intensification of land use, reducing deforestation, and supporting subsistence farmers in growing high-value legume seeds like soybeans and groundnuts. By offering irrigation and contracting programs, GNA seeks to double farmers’ annual incomes without expanding land area. Additionally, GNA provides crop guidance and market access while using a ‘grower rating’ system to improve productivity and potentially secure financing for further equipment investments.

The Solar for Sustainable Income in Dairy project aims to benefit the dairy sector in Uganda by introducing solar-powered milk chilling infrastructure at five dairy cooperatives, in regions where chilling infrastructure is lacking. This PREO-funded initiative, involving JESA dairy and led by Heifer International, seeks to increase dairy production, reduce post-harvest losses, and boost farmers’ incomes by overcoming financial and technological barriers. By implementing this two-year project in central and southwestern Uganda, the initiative also aims to reduce energy costs and cut carbon emissions by shifting from diesel to renewable energy.

Hinckley Associates, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Fan Milk, is leading a project to develop second life lithium battery packs to power fridge-freezers in Nigeria’s cold chain sector. Supported by funding from PREO, the initiative aims to reduce barriers for off-grid frozen product resellers by providing a cleaner, more affordable energy source. This innovation can enhance the business operations of Fan Milk and nationwide distribution network by reducing costs, improving fridge reliability, and increasing revenue through reduced stock spoilage. Additionally, Hinckley’s recycling efforts have provided valuable insights into environmental challenges, leading to expertise in energy storage and fridge processing, while fostering local job creation and economic value through sustainable energy solutions.

Imara Tech is addressing a lack of mechanisation and electricity access among smallholder farms in Tanzania by developing a portfolio of clean energy-powered agricultural machines. With 97% of these farms lacking machinery and less than half having community-level electricity, farmers are stuck with labor-intensive practices that limit productivity. Imara Tech’s initial products—a flour mill, peanut sheller, and oil press—are designed to enable off-grid farms to start profitable businesses by adding value to their harvests. With PREO funding, the company is scaling up local manufacturing and supply chains to ensure these machines, available in both AC and DC versions, can be widely deployed, with pilot testing throughout 2021 preceding full commercialisation.