Fenix International, the largest provider of off-grid home solar in Uganda, announces that it has signed over 60,000 leases for its product, ReadyPay Power, since January 2014. The leases, totaling $11 million in value, have brought an estimated 300,000 Ugandans power for the first time and each lessee their first line of credit.
Ugandans, living on an average of less than $2/day, make only a small deposit to take home their approximately $200 solar system. Customers then pay off the remaining cost in affordable installments via Mobile Money over 18-24 months until they own the system outright.
Fenix’s innovative hardware and software enable the company to lock the solar system if customers fail to make payments. The company receives and processes over 120,000 payments per month, and a total of $5.7 million has been paid back through 1.4 million payments.
“Our success to date demonstrates the incredible demand for ReadyPay and the robustness of our financing platform,” said Lyndsay Handler, CEO of Fenix International. “First, we are bringing clean, affordable power to replace expensive and dangerous kerosene lanterns. Second, customers build a credit history that allows us to provide additional financing for solar system upgrades and other life-changing products and services.”
Fenix partners with MTN, Africa’s largest telecom, to sell and distribute their ReadyPay Power systems, and with foreign investors to finance their leases. The company is expanding rapidly and investing in growing its customer base, product portfolio and market reach in 2016.
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