DURBAN - Nthabiseng Mosia is a South African-Ghanian entrepreneur whose company Easy Solar transforms West-African off-grid communities by making clean energy solutions affordable and accessible for all.
Mosia is the co-founder of Easy Solar along with Alexandre Toure and Eric Silverman.
Mosia said that the idea for Easy Solar emerged in early 2015 in response to the energy accessibility problems in Sierra Leone.
She said " It’s often widely publicized that two-thirds of Sub-Saharan Africans lack access to electricity. But in Sierra Leone, 90% of people (and 99% in rural areas) don’t have any electricity".
Easy Solar offers high-quality solar products and appliances on a rent-to-own financing model that allows customers to finance their purchase over time by paying weekly installments.
Easy Solar produces a variety of solar devices including solar home systems with lighting, mobile charging and DC appliances as well as solar lanterns that can charge mobile phones and offer more than 24 hours of light on a single charge.
Consumers use Easy Solar products for lighting purposes in homes and businesses.
The products are also used to charge phones and listen to radios. They are also looking into expanding the range of services to give households the ability to generate an income.
The Easy Solar products are mainly sold to households and small businesses in Sierra Leone and since they launched in 2016, they have built a network of nine distribution points across 16 districts in Sierra Leone.
They are also looking to expand into other countries like Liberia and Guinea in the future.
Mosia said that those countries also experience major electricity accessibility problems.
To date, Easy Solar has brought electricity to more than 50 000 people (8 000 households). They have also helped households save money on items like kerosene and cheap battery-powered torches.
Mosia estimates that over the next five years their existing customer base will save $3.5 million by switching to solar.
The company gets their funding mainly from investors like Acumen and Gaia Fund, loans from Cordaid and SIMA funds and grants from MasterCard and AECF.
Mosia who resides in Sierra Leone has a lot of achievements to her name including being on Forbes' 30 Most Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs in Africa in 2018, and one of South Africa's 100 Most Influential Young People of 2017.
She also has her Masters in Energy Finance and Policy from Columbia University and her B.Bus.Sc. in Finance from the University of Cape Town.