Last week, BBOXX Rwanda unveiled a fresh initiative that will address the problem of air pollution and environmental degradation while at the same moment cutting down on the time and hardships to prepare a meal.
BBOXX is the first firm to incorporate solar energy pay-as-you-go services with pay-as-you-go cooking alternatives.
This is a new innovation in the country where you can get a gas cylinder as an down payment for only Rwf 13,500 and also pay Rwf 9,000 for six months to own the cooker permanently. You only pay for the gas cylinder if you already have a cooker and just maintain refilling it.
One buys the gas cylinder with the pay-as-you- go cooking alternatives and the firm is liable for delivery, with installation for the customer free of charge.
Also, using Mobile Money, you can purchase any amount of fuel, for as little as Rwf 500.
If the gas is about to get used up, BBOXX will be notified and immediate replenishment will be done
This is one of many ways to protect the environment and save cash as charcoal or firewood will no longer be needed.
Speaking at the launch of the new product entitled ‘ BBOXX Cook, ‘ the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Engineer Patricie Uwase, observed that she was pleased with this development as it supports the government’s plans to decrease wood reliance as an energy source.
“As you all know, the dependence of wood as a source of energy is still at a high rate, 79.9%, as it was revealed by research, and the government’s strategy is to have this figure reduced by at least half in the next five years,’’ she said.
“That is why when we see other individuals or organizations such as BBOXX coming through to support us, we are delighted and pledge our full support as it is still in its initial stages, and this is when we come in and do what we can,” PS Uwase added.
Justus Mucyo, BBOXX Rwanda’s managing director, said the business started operating in Rwanda five years ago with a focus on offering rural families with access to electricity.
“After 80,000 successful connections, we have positioned ourselves as a next generation utility, and for that matter, we’ll start to use our technology to address the issue of access to clean cooking, which three billion people lack worldwide, and Rwanda is no different. Use of charcoal and firewood are a major threat to the environment and this is where BBOXX comes in, and the fact that payment is going to be in installments, I am optimistic that everyone will be able to afford this new product on the market,” he said.
Mucyo added that BBOXX has a lot of operations going on in the rural regions, but as urban residents use the most gas, they will begin this in the town centers as they stretch deeper into the villages.
BBOXX enabled 80,000 individuals throughout the nation to receive lighting, and Mucyo stated that it was the only firm that was able to create a presence in all districts throughout the nation.
In order to continue to strengthen the company’s presence on the solar market, BBOXX has also disclosed, exclusively, a new service that they will release at the end of August — online energy payments from all over the globe. Payments will be made using a credit / debit card for upfront sales with 0 transfer charges and discounts up to USD 200.
Ulrich Reinecker, BBOXX Group Director of Commercial and Innovation commented; “We know that many Rwandans send money back home, either from abroad or from Kigali. With BBOXX Online Payments we want to help them invest a part of this money in solar electricity, thus contributing to Rwanda’s goal of 100% electrification by 2024.”
The company’s co-founder and Chief Operations Officer, Laurent Van Houcke, observed that BBOXX presently operates in 14 African nations, with over 1,000,000 homes electrified over the past 10 years.
He claims there was a lot to learn from the job of BBOXX in Rwanda, adding that they would not have been able to get where they had reached without complete public assistance
“Since these are new technologies, and as we know that in many countries, to bring such types of technologies to mass market, the government needs to push it hard as well on the communication because the private sector alone can’t do much without the support from the government and other stakeholders,” Houcke concluded.