On May 23, Marubeni Corporation (hereinafter, “Marubeni”) reached an agreement to acquire a stake in Azuri Technologies Ltd (hereinafter, “Azuri”), entering into the solar home systems business for off-grid areas in Africa. Marubeni’s investment will make the company the largest shareholder of Azuri.
Azuri provides solar home systems, which include solar panels, batteries, LED lights, radio and 60 channels of satellite TV, to off-grid consumers through installments paid via mobile payment on a pay-as-you-go basis. These systems enable households in off-grid areas to access electricity for business, study and other such activities.Azuri’s systems also enable these households access to worldwide information through TV and radio.
One of Azuri’s strengths is a unique technology called HomeSmartTM. This system learns the typical powerusage patterns of individual consumers and then adapts energy output to manage the system to each consumer’s specific needs. It also monitors and adapts to weather conditions to ensure that consumers have access to “light at night”.
At present, approximately 1.1 billion people throughout the world do not have access to electricity. In 2018, Marubeni acquired a stake in WASSHA Inc. (hereinafter “WASSHA”) and has since been conducting regional power supply business for off-grid areas in Tanzania. Looking to the future, Marubeni will provide new services, not limited to the provision of electricity. Additionally, the company will continue to work towards providing power, worldwide information, and better quality of life to areas of the world without electricity by leveraging a synergy between the local networks possessed by Azuri and WASSHA, and Marubeni’s own extensive industry experience and global network.
■ Azuri Technologies Ltd
Headquarters : Cambridge, UK
CEO : Simon Bransfield-Garth
Incorporation : 2012
Business : Solar Home System business in areas without access to electricity in Kenya, Tanzania and other African countries
Source: https://www.marubeni.com/en/news/2019/release/20190603E.pdf