PEG, an Accra-based distributed energy firm has passed $1 million of sales from hundreds of pump installations in 2020 and is eyeing entry into the solar refrigerator market.
The West African startup claims to have over 700,000 daily users in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali after it started piloting solar pumps in 2019.
Using the same approach as with its solar home systems, PEG Africa finances solar water pumps for smallholder farmers, livestock and poultry owners, and community drinking water over a period of up to 18 months. The company has deployed 0.5MW of solar water pumps, and expects to triple that in 2021.
“In Africa, 80 percent of families depend on agriculture for their livelihood, but only four percent use irrigation due to the instability or absence of the electricity grid. Using our innovative financing model, people in these communities can now access clean and effective technology in an affordable manner,” said Hugh Whalan, CEO of PEG Africa.
The company is building on this momentum by piloting solar refrigerators in three of its markets which will mostly target customers who are able to use the product for productive use and therefore derive higher incomes.
“We are showing that we can bring additional productivity, jobs and income to the consumers we serve, helping people who once relied on polluting and expensive fuels like kerosene, candles, batteries and diesel to leapfrog into a clean energy future,” Whalan said.
ocuses on providing embedded finance for useful and productive assets, such as solar home systems via its PAYG financing model. This enables its customers to replace their perpetual spending on poor-quality polluting fuels with solar energy.raised more than US$50 million in funding over the last four years, and has been actively diversifying its product offering to meet customer needs.
About PEG Africa
PEG Africa is West Africa’s largest and fastest growing independent provider of distributed energy, with operations in Ghana, Senegal, Mali and Ivory Coast. PEG provides credit for useful and productive assets to underserved customers, and by doing this, PEG helps customers to gain ownership of assets that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Importantly, as customers pay off their loan to PEG, PEG starts to understand their credit history, which is a valuable tool we can then use to provide for additional loans for products and services. PEG has over 500 full time staff, over 700 commission-based sales agents, and has earned many prestigious awards including the International Ashden Award (UK) for Innovative Financing, Inclusive Fintech 50, and being named by London Stock Exchange as one of the Fast Growing Companies in Africa. More recently PEG was recognised as an Energy Access Champion for West Africa, and won awards in Ghana for ‘Small Business of the year’, and ‘Off-Grid Energy Supplier of the year’. More information can be found at www.pegafrica.com.
