Yemisi Izuora
Leading off-grid solar firm Lumos Global has restated commitment toward expanding its investments in the electricity industry by providing reliable power to more Nigerians.
The company also promised to boost its mobile payment initiative to enhance seamless financial transactions in the country.
Lumos co-founder and president Nir Marom who commented on the company’s 2017 end of year activities, said, “What we are experiencing now is a second mobile revolution in Africa. There’s no question that demand for our product is mammoth in Nigeria, but beyond Nigeria, there are hundreds of millions of people across the continent who also lack access to power and need solutions. Our goal is to reach them and provide affordable, reliable, clean electricity.”
The company’s year-end figures for 2017 revealed rapid growth and a boost in confidence in the off-grid industry.
Lumos, which operates in Nigeria and recently expanded to Cote d’Ivoire, offers an at-home solar electricity device that lets users access reliable power at affordable prices, purchased on an as-needed basis via mobile payments. Lumos delivers its service in both Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire in partnership with MTN, one of the Africa’s largest mobile operators.
In 2017, Lumos more than doubled device sales from 2016, with total deployments reaching more than 73,000 systems in Nigeria at the end of December.
The company also more than doubled mobile payment transactions with 1.2 million transactions, compared to 514,850 in 2016 and the systems are now available in over 300 stores across Nigeria up from 86 in 2016.
The added power is easing pressure on Nigeria’s traditional power grid – the projected combined wattage from Lumos systems has increased from 2 MW to 5.6 MW this calendar year.
At 80W per system, Lumos systems are some of the largest in the off-grid solar industry, 5-10 times larger than offerings of most providers and due to the greater electricity offering, Lumos has installed more generation capacity than otherwise seen in the industry.
Lumos’ 2017 growth came on the back of securing the off-grid solar industry’s largest ever investment in December 2016, totaling $90m, which allowed the company to build the infrastructure needed to grow in Nigeria and expand its footprint in the region.
The significant milestones reached in 2017 mean that more than 300,000 people across Nigeria are now benefitting from Lumos’ affordable, safe, clean electricity. Similar impact and swift growth is anticipated in the Ivory Coast as well, as the country is home to millions of underserved energy customers.