Bboxx - Afrikan Heroes

London-based Data-driven Cleantech Platform Bboxx Relocates HQ to Rwanda, Plans $100M Investment

January 30, 2024

London-based Bboxx, the data-driven super platform dedicated to transforming lives across Africa, has announced a strategic move of its Headquarters from London to Kigali. The decision was revealed today at the UK-Rwanda Business Forum in Kigali, underlining the company’s commitment to Africa as an “Africa-first” entity.

The move signals a significant step in Bboxx’s mission to connect consumers and deploy innovative products across the continent. Bboxx plans to invest USD$100 million in Rwanda, training nearly 1000 Rwandans in the next five years. This announcement aligns with the company’s ambitious goals for the new year, aiming to impact 36 million people by 2028, following a USD$100 million partnership with Kuwaiti investment company EnerTech announced in December 2023.

Expanding Impact in Africa

Bboxx, founded in 2010, initially focused on addressing energy poverty in Africa. Over the past 13 years, it has expanded into 11 African markets, providing electricity to over 10% of Rwanda’s households. The company has diversified its range of products and services, from solar energy to pay-as-you-go clean cooking solutions, water pumps, smartphones, and electric vehicles.

Strategic Move to Kigali

Simultaneously, Rwanda’s transformation over the past two decades, coupled with business-friendly policies, makes it an opportune location for Bboxx to base its operations. The decision to move the headquarters to Kigali places Bboxx at the core of Africa’s rapidly evolving energy and technology sectors, enhancing access to key markets and reinforcing its commitment to long-term, sustainable growth.

Francis Gatare, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, welcomed the move, stating, “Bboxx’s decision aligns with our efforts for Rwanda as a magnet for smart, sustainable investments.” Rwanda offers a conducive business environment, a growing pool of tech and engineering talent, and easy access to the rest of Africa through its national carrier, Rwandair.

Partnerships and Commitments

Bboxx’s move is supported by strong partnerships with African governments, including the Government of Rwanda. This highlights the shared commitment to electrify the continent and empower remote communities economically. The company’s vision is a testament to its dedication to a brighter, more sustainable African future.

The UK, a key development partner for Rwanda, sees Bboxx’s move as a reflection of the strong relationship between the two nations. The British High Commissioner, His Excellency Omar Daair OBE, noted, “Bboxx’s move to Kigali exemplifies the UK’s ongoing support for African innovation.”

Bboxx’s Transformative Mission

Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx, expressed the significance of the move, stating, “In our journey to revolutionize access to essential products and services across Africa, it’s only fitting that we position ourselves at the heart of the continent.” The relocation promises to bring Bboxx closer to the communities it serves, ensuring reliable and innovative solutions to the challenges they face.

With the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, serving as the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office, the move to Kigali positions Bboxx strategically, reinforcing its commitment to Africa and its dedication to being a data-driven super platform for transformative change.

Bboxx is a data-driven super platform championing economic empowerment in Africa. Through its fully integrated operating system, Bboxx Pulse®, the company connects customers with clean energy, clean cooking, smartphones, e-mobility, and selected financial products. With a pay-as-you-go model, Bboxx aims to provide convenient and affordable solutions, positively impacting over 3.6 million people in 10 operating markets. The move to Kigali signifies a pivotal chapter for Bboxx as it strives to unlock potential across the continent.

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard.

Bboxx Launches Cash Loan Pilot in Kenya

December 19, 2021

Efforts aimed at ramping up greater financial inclusion in Africa just got a boost with the launching of a cash loan pilot scheme in Kenya by Bboxx. This is one of the many lined up by Bboxx, a next-generation utility company towards the provision of cash loan and affordable financial services pilot aimed at positively transforming lives in Kenya.

The pilot has secured access to finance for customers who would otherwise struggle to obtain it elsewhere. These cash loans will help to significantly support people, from improving financial capacities to investing in businesses like farming to paying school fees, medical emergencies, among other uses. Bboxx acts as the platform between the customer and the lender, using its platform Bboxx Pulse® and its credit scoring algorithm capabilities to identify customers that may require a loan. Bboxx has partnered with a Kenyan Fintech company, a financial services provider to conduct this pilot. Since the launch of the pilot, Bboxx has recorded a repayment rate of 80% and a low NPL (Non-Performing Loans) at 2%. This is a positive indication of what can be expected when scale happens.

The opportunity to transform lives for the better through providing access to financial services is huge, with over half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa not currently banking or borrowing from a regulated financial institution*. Bboxx’s customers are often building digital credit histories for the first time through paying for their solar energy Pay-As-You-Go via mobile money. Despite being excluded from mainstream financial services, Bboxx’s data backs up that these customers are highly reliable. Bboxx is looking to roll out pilots further in 2022 in Kenya and other markets, working with financial institutions, fintechs and traditional banks.

Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx said that the company believes that technology is the key to unlocking inclusive and sustainable development in Africa. “The launch of our latest cash loans pilot in Kenya is part of our wider strategy to continually innovate and to promote financial inclusion throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a significant untapped market opportunity here to enable people who have been previously unfairly cut off from finance to reach their full potential”.

“Through leveraging our scalable technology platform and decentralised distribution network, we have a growing pipeline of opportunities where we can significantly help customers across a variety of sectors and services. We look forward to keeping up momentum as we accelerate our pilot launches throughout 2022 and beyond, working with a range of partners to put this vision into action.”

The launch closely follows Bboxx’s recent signing of the first ever Memorandum of Understanding (‘MoU’) to sell smartphones in Togo, in partnership with the Togolese Government. The MoU will improve digital inclusion and the delivery of digital public services, with the smartphones made available to the public via more affordable financing options.

Both initiatives form part of Bboxx’s broader vision to build a digital marketplace for all underserved customers across a range of essential sectors and services. Bboxx’s roots lie firmly in clean energy driven by its purpose to tackle energy poverty. The business is investing in IoT technology solutions and using its innovative proprietary Bboxx Pulse® platform to scale clean energy access in Africa. Pulse® software is now evolving further in response to customer demand for wider products and services, including pay-as-you-go LPG clean cooking systems, solar-powered water pumps and irrigation systems for farming, through to TV content, internet and smartphones, all of which can be delivered once people have access to clean energy and built up a track-record of online bill payments.

Access to energy brings people into the digital economy and fosters greater financial inclusion. Bboxx impact analysis has found that thousands of people have undertaken more economic activities as a result of using Bboxx’s energy products and services, generating entrepreneurship and $30m of income within hard-to-reach communities who have previously been overlooked.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry