Establishing a payment method that is area-specific seems to miss many areas in Africa, but one small private electricity supplier in Guinea has launched a service that has 100% of the villagers paying their electricity bills on time.
The West African country is seen as one of the most corrupt and an unstable place in Africa, yet the rural village of Goyola is spearheading a campaign that is indicative of the establishment of more such projects. The innovative payment model allows locals to connect to the electricity grid in exchange for the produce grown, instead of cash. The produce-based payment model was the outcome of discussions between the small private operator, La Société Électricité Nakoloma De Goyola (ENDG) and the Bureau for Decentralized Rural Electrification (BERD) government agency.
The area is known for its agriculture, particularly rice, maize, peanuts, coffee, bananas, and palm oil However, for farmers to sell the goods for cash, they must transport the materials on foot to the nearest market which is at least 6 km away. Nava Touré, director of the BERD, shared the Goyola story to 230 representatives of African rural energy agencies and funds, ministries, utilities, and regulatory agencies when they met in Dakar in November. Goyola’s public-private partnership (PPP) model for scaling up rural access was the winner in a Call for Papers on innovative solutions to Africa’s electrification challenges organized by the World Bank’s African Electrification Initiative (AEI).
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