Desperate times call for desperate measures. So Tanzania, where 80 percent of the population has no reliable access to electricity, is planning to import biomass as fuel from Ethiopia this year and is building a $2 billion hydropower project threatening the Selous Game Reserve. Meanwhile, several thousand Tanzanians are finding an easier, eco-friendly solution: solar-powered LEDs available through a pay-as-you-go model.

Tanzania’s woes aren’t unique. The World Bank says annual outages in sub-Saharan Africa can range from 50 hours to 4,600 hours — at the latter end, that’s more than half a year. So an off-the-grid solution is proving valuable in the region and throughout Africa. From Kenya to Tanzania, Uganda to Rwanda, Nigeria to Ivory Coast and even war-torn Somalia, Africans are embracing solar energy solutions that help them power their homes even without being connected to the grid, on an unparalleled scale.

Nairobi-based M-KOPA started the revolution. Launched commercially in 2012, M-KOPA allows low-income families access to solar energy for as little as $1 per month. This is cheaper and more environmental than the alternatives, kerosene or diesel fuel, and offers a metered payment system tracked through their phone SIM cards. The first firm in the world to develop that innovation, M-KOPA now has 600,000 customers across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and is bringing solar power to 500 new homes every day. It has received $162 million in investments since 2014. But the firm is no longer alone.
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