The days of the paraffin lamp in Uganda are truly numbered.
With millions of the Pearl of Africa’s rural homes well-known to spending upwards of Shs5,000 per week on paraffin lamp fuel: For lack of grid electricity, their dim, smoky paraffin lamps commonly known as ‘Tadoba’ are the only option for home lighting. But the opening of a Sun King From Greenlight Planet in Mbarara, western Uganda is set to make the paraffin cost a scourge of the past.
Launched on Monday at Mbarara’s busy Easy View Complex, the store is the first of many to come in 2017 that will cover millions of peasants and low-income business owners of Uganda, according to Greenlight’s leader of global business, Mr. Dhaval Radia.
“As Greenlight Planet, we are happy to be bringing such income-friendly solar products to Ugandans and neighboring communities in Rwanda and DRC that will provide bright, nighttime lighting for homes that use paraffin lamps and are designed to charge user’s mobile phones using solar energy,” Mr Radia said at the launch also attended by Mr. Alao Olawale, Head of Sales from Nigeria.
The American company manufactures and sells solar lamps and home systems with reliable mobile charging. They have offices in the US, Kenya, Nigeria, Myanmar, India and Kampala where they have had one since 2013.
Notably on sale in Mbarara will be two of the new products recently announced across sub-Saharan Africa: The Sun King Mobile and Sun King Pro2. Featuring proprietary technology and designed for the rigors of the rural marketplace, both products feature a 5-year battery life based on revolutionary Lithium Ferro Phosphate battery technology.
The western Uganda region Sales Manager, Rodgers Arinaitwe, demonstrated to the people of Mbarara and media how a customer can benefit from bright lights plus phone charging, radio and more even if they are living off-grid without mains power.
Mr Arinaitwe said: “Greenlight’s Solar transforms quality of life in two ways. First, Sun King eliminates the need for dangerous paraffin lamps, improves air quality in the home and increases time students have to read at night. Second, Sun King payments are flexible and more affordable than paraffin and candles, enabling Ugandans to save money on energy.”
“Our products produce greater light than the paraffin ones, which are toxic to the environment, and to millions of our brothers and sisters in the villages,” supplemented Greenlight Uganda’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Mr Bernard Anguyo.
The Sun King Pro2 is the next generation in the brand’s Sun King product line-up of solar lamps. Twice as bright as alternative solar lanterns, the Pro2 charges two standard mobile phones per day while providing safe, bright nighttime lighting. With the Pro2, users can stay connected by charging their mobile phone – and even their neighbor’s phones – from their own home.
Today, Uganda is the world’s fourth largest investor in renewable energy at USD 134 million, according to the Renewable, Global Status Report.
