M kopa

M-Kopa (M = mobile, 'kopa' is Swahili for 'borrowed') is a Kenyan solar energy company that was founded in 2011 by Nick Hughes, Chad Larson, and Jesse Moore. Hughes previously set up and ran M-PESA at Vodafone where Moore also worked whilst completing his MBA. Larson and Moore were fellow MBA students at Oxford University The company sells home solar systems in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Customers pay a deposit of 3,500 KES (approx $35), take the system home then pay 50 KES (approx $0.50) a day for a period of one year, to own the solar system. Daily payments are made through M-PESA, a mobile phone based money system, and in addition to getting solar power, customers also slowly off-set the cost of the device. The system is meant for an off-grid household who is using kerosene (paraffin) lamps to light their home, and paying for batteries and phone charging.

Contents

• M kopa solar provides affordable power to rural kenya
• M kopa solar to provide more home improvement products in 2016
• Awards
• Controversy
• References

The latest M-KOPA 4, has an eight watt solar panel that charges cell phones, a radio and a torch, via USB, includes 2 LED bulbs with light switches, as well as a rechargeable LED torch (flashlight) and a radio. M-KOPA Solar sells through a network of dealers, across the countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

M-KOPA was launched commercially in 2012 and has connected over 300,000 homes in East Africa to Solar power, as of early January 2016 and has over $40 million of revenue to date. M-Kopa estimates that 80 percent of its customers live on less than $2 a day.