A pay-as-you-go home solar-energy system was introduced to low-income earners in rural Kenya around four years ago, providing approximately 300 000 Kenyans with much-needed access to electricity. And now a new initiative is giving them the opportunity to own their own TV.
Consumer finance company M-KOPA (which is based in the East African country) estimates that around 70% of Kenyans don’t have access to a television, and aims to correct this by unveiling its latest product: a digital 16-inch, solar-powered, flat-screen TV.
According to a How We Made It In Africa report, households that have completed payments for the home solar-energy system can acquire the TV for a US$15 deposit and daily payments of US$0.50 over two years. Roughly 500 TV sets have already been sold, while the company plans to extend its TV services to Uganda and Tanzania by mid-2016.
