Mobile Water Payments to Cut Out the Middlemen

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Mobile Water Payments to Cut Out the Middlemen

Mobile Phones are Facilitating Access to Water and Solar Power in Poor Rural Communities in Rural Africa

For many of Thomas Duveau's customers in rural, off-grid communities in Tanzania, buying a solar panel system for their home will be their first big commercial transaction, and probably the largest of their life.

Mobisol's solar panel systems can cost over $1,000 (£599), which is unaffordable for many sub-Saharan Africans, whoseannual income is as little as $1,600. However with a business model that encourages incremental payments over 36 months, offers transparent payment through mobile banking, and encourages residents to use their panels for profit, this energy option is becoming increasingly appealing to farming communities across Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Solar energyprovides a cheaper and safer alternative to diesel generators, kerosene lamps and old batteries, but a key barrier to access is cash.

The cheapest 10 watt solar system can power a small radio, one to three lamps and charge up to two mobile phones for $9 a month. But is that still too expensive? Deveau says there is demand for an even more espensive system.

Along with the incremental payment and potential to make profit, it is the mobile payment aspect of the system that's opening doors for users.

The increasing adoption of mobile money across east Africa has made it easier for other start-ups such asGrundfosLifelink (GLL)to begin to plug the gap in service provision to the poorest communities.

Mobile money solutions also pose ethical concerns for businesses - a previous partnership betweenSafaricom and Equity Bankin Kenya raised the question ‘who owns the customer's data when you go into partnership with a mobile network?'

For now, Mobisol and GLL are looking to introduce their services to other countries in the region by 2015. Their success will depend not just on mobile phone penetration in those communities, but on how willing customers are to put their faith in a new way of making financial transactions.

Source: The Guardian

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