ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

The Organization Through it’s Foosteer Light Initiative, support poverty reduction mission by developing and delivering RE (Renewable Energy) systems to rural households and businesses in SSA(sub-sahara africa). While the focus was on pv shs, foosteer initiatives based in Nigeria also supported agro-business, biomass and gas projects.

Foosteer has a secondary mandate, that of helping connect rural areas to the world through (solar-powered) information technology. Although registered as an NGO, it is run, for the most part, as a not-for-profit enterprise. The organization’s solar PV program represents its largest business line, purchasing solar PV panels and other systems components (i.e., batteries) from a range of foreign and local suppliers; and assembling, selling, installing, and, where necessary, financing them. 

The Nigerian market for SHS is considered to be relatively large. Approximately 75 percent of households do not have accessibility to electricity, low levels of urbanization, and a very slow political and economic reform process have made establishing a traditional energy network (or grid) very challenging. Furthermore, the high density of the Nigerian population means that, even in rural areas, there are significant concentrations of potential consumers. 

The first renewable energy initiative (Installation of 650w SHS in an off-grid residential building) that foosteer implemented was a donor-led and focused on demonstrating the functionality of the technology, FISHANDHOOKS GLOBAL NETWORK awarded the project in 2013  the project was implemented same year, the system is still functioning till date.

Foosteer Light Initiative tagged SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ACCESS PROGRAMME is a project with two major components; system 1&2, Solar Lamp Rental System (SLRS) and Solar Home System (SHS) respectively.

The Solar Lamp Rental System SLRS, powered by community charging stations provides cleaner, safer, better lighting. An integrated micro-processor on the lamps provides accurate records of kerosene replacement, while the Solar Home Systems SHS can power smaller community businesses. i.e Barber’s shop, Provision shops etc

Characteristics of target population includes:

Off-grid populations (especially rural) households with relatively high energy expenses and no access to grid electricity or other reliable and affordable electricity supply sources, strong emphasis is on the “Base of the Pyramid” (BoP) households with a daily income below USD 2, also Off-grid, rural micro-enterprises such as village kiosks, agro-processors and community centers that are currently dependent on diesel generation sets for electricity supply.

WHAT WE DO:

A Private Energy Provider (PEP) for off-grid areas

• Renting out SHS for fixed monthly tariffs

• Selling KWh in villages with Village Grids

• Selling light per hour/bar with portable battery lamps

PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY: 

140 million people in Nigeria still have no reliable access to power.

The traditional electricity grid will reach neither half of this population.

Despite this, most of them are served by mobile networks.

FOOSTEER INITIATIVE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT offers Micropower – small-scale, local energy for off-grid and underserved communities.

Agriculture is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy, with cultivation of cash crop meant to serve as a major employer approximately 32%. Energy is an important part of modern  Nigeria agriculture, accounting for 25 percent of input costs. A lack of stable and available energy sources is an issue, which leads farmers to rely on expensive, polluting diesel generators as a backup source.

FOOSTEER INITIATIVE FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT provides Solar-powered agro-processing machinery with focus on Sustainability through commercial viability for both the agro-allied entrepreneur and their respective business patronage.

MISSION FOR LIGHT INITIATIVE:

Our mission is to develop profitable business opportunities in Nigeria and in Sub-Sahara Africa while meeting community energy and connectivity needs, effecting a Technology and Know-how Transfer particularly in West-Africa countries by catalyzing at least US$20 million in investment for medium scale off-grid energy projects over the next two years, which will increase access to electricity for African enterprises and impact the lives of millions of power users in these countries. This ambitious vision requires an elevated partnership built around concrete commercial and developmental interests.