Greenlight Planet, the largest solar pay-as-you-go provider in Africa, and Orange, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, are announcing a partnership that aims to provide Orange’s customers with access to clean energy solutions in several African countries, including Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, etc. Through this partnership, Greenlight Planet will provide equipment and support, expanding Orange’s value proposition in energy.
Greenlight Planet’s solar systems will first become available for Orange’s eight million customers in Burkina Faso from November 2019. The partnership involves both companies deploying Greenlight Planet’s Sun King range of off-grid energy systems available to the hardest-to-reach regions in the country, especially to the households who live off-the-grid.
As part of its multiservice strategy, Orange has chosen to contribute to the challenge of making access to energy more readily available in African countries within its footprint by providing a range of innovative Orange Energy services. The Group first launched “solar kits” offer for consumers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2017; the offer is now available in eight countries across the continent.
Through these offers, Orange Energy customers gain access to the necessary solar equipment needed to provide them with enough energy to power basic services in their homes. Customers can use their mobiles to pay small, modular subscription fees at a distance using Orange Money, making solar energy more widely accessible with the flexibility of mobile payments.
In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 600 million people do not have access to the grid and power cuts are frequent, even in large cities. The partnership between Orange and Greenlight Planet will provide a much-needed service to a population that would otherwise find it difficult to access energy.
“I am delighted about this new partnership with Greenlight Planet, it allows us to turn an energy player into a digital energy operator, using our telco operator assets. African populations will thus be able to access energy via simple mobile pre-payment, wherever they are and regardless of their total energy needs. This is our ambition and our contribution to the African energy transition,” commented Nat-Sy Missamou, Director of Orange Energy.
The Sun King solar systems by Greenlight Planet that Orange is offering are robust and can light up a whole house, charge the household’s mobile phones and power a radio or even a television. They consist of a solar panel that is typically installed on the roof of the house or business and connected to a battery and control unit inside the building. Users also benefit from a two-year warranty for the products, which covers the entire installation, maintenance, and repairs, in conjunction with Greenlight Planet.
“This partnership with a leading operator such as Orange is a great accomplishment, as it proves that our solutions are perfectly adapted to serve the needs of the sub-Saharan African population. Starting in Burkina Faso, we aim to cover the entire country with reliable access to energy and expect our partnership with Orange to expand across other markets in Africa. We believe this collaborative effort will ease and drive Sun King’s penetration into the West African Francophone markets adding to the nearly 50 million lives we have impacted over ten years,” says Patrick Muriuki, Business Development Director for Africa at Greenlight Planet.
Both companies will be a part of AfricaCom 2019 to promote and support the acceleration of business transformation to further strengthen African economies.
Orange is present in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East and has near 125 million customers at 30 September 2019. With 5.2 billion euros of revenues in 2018, this zone is a strategic priority for the Group. Orange Money, its flagship mobile-based money transfer and financial services offer is available in 17 countries and has 45 million customers. Orange, multi-services operator, key partner of the digital transformation provides its expertise to support the development of new digital services in Africa and the Middle East.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2018 and 148,000 employees worldwide at 30 September 2019, including 88,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 268 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2019, including 209 million mobile customers and 21million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 27 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.
Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.
About Greenlight Planet
Greenlight Planet has sold over 12 million Sun King™ solar home energy products to off-grid households around the world. Greenlight Planet reaches remote, off-grid customers through a unique business model involving a vast network of microentrepreneurs, more than 300 global strategic distribution partners, and its proprietary EasyBuy (“pay-as-you-go”) installment payment technology that makes safe, high-quality solar energy products affordable for all. Greenlight Planet’s Sun King™ products are currently installed in 65+ countries and serve more than 50 million beneficiaries. Find out more at https://www.greenlightplanet.com.
Press contacts: Orange
Tom Wright : +33 6 78 91 35 11; tom.wright@orange.com
Khadija Komara: + 33 6 76 45 96 18; khadija.komara@orange.com
Press contacts: Greenlight Planet
Cassandra Barua: +919769087737; media@greenlightplanet.com