Author: Sam Floy

“Netflix for Africa”: how Tango TV is creating a platform for streaming local East African content

Overview

Most people like to be entertained.

Soon after getting a smartphone, people in East Africa start to seek out entertainment in the form of videos on Youtube not even considering the idea of a traditional television which has to stick to a schedule and requires being at home

Internationally, the dominant “on demand” video service is Netflix though the content isn’t very relatable to the African market.

Victor and I discuss Tango TV, the Netflix alternative starting in Tanzania

We discuss the current media distribution model in Tanzania, considerations of building a video streaming app in East Africa and why the local market won’t watch Game of Thrones even if it was in Swahili

It’s a very interesting conversation that we have, and so I hope you enjoy.

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“Media streaming service for local content”

You can think of us as Netflix, but for local African content. We started in Swahili with a view of expanding our range across other languages.

“Local comedy films are most popular”

We have lots of different content, and lots of

“The issue is distribution”

Swahili films are very popular however there are many issues with how they distribute. A lot of piracy, DVDs are obsolete.

“It’s just going to get better”

The trend is always towards accessing films and shows over the internet rather than watching linear TV. If we’re early, then we’ll wait for everyone to catch up.

“Streaming beats downloads”

After doing some testing we found that people preferred to stream than download, typically because they don’t have the storage space on their device.

“We looked at different data”

Such as how many people are watching a Swahili film on Youtube. We estimate 11 million people have access to the internet in Tanzania.

“When people get a smartphone…”

First thing is Whatsapp and Facebook. Then it’s used for entertainment.

“Game of Thrones is niche”

Most people are wanting local content. Foreign programmes aren’t really mainstream.

“I targeted key terms”

Through analysing what people were searching for on Play Store and Instagram we made some specific posts which is a good way for us to get users.

“Costs come from infrastructure”

It’s relatively straightforward to work out how Youtube works. The bit that’s difficult is customising it to a local market, such as compressing files and ensuring quality.

“Web development is done in Tanzania”

The team works from Tanzania. Our server is currently based in Europe which means its a bit slower, however there isn’t the reliable infrastructure here.

“Maybe Netflix will acquire us…”

It’s difficult to go and sign up a load of film distribution companies. Netflix might have bigger markets to go to first, but we’ll go on and build our business here regardless.

“We charge a subscription”

This is how we make money (~$4/ month) from our active users. We pay for the content.

“Tanzania X Factor”

The equivalent is called “Ubongo Star Search”. If we are able to get that, then we’d be really happy.

“Most urban households have a TV”

We’re looking at customers who are currently watching TV at home and try and convert them to using Tango TV.

“Not many people have tablets”

If they have a smartphone then there’s not really a need for a tablet. If they want a bigger device, they’ll get a laptop.

“When we expand, it’s not just language”

The most important thing in the content is the cultural significance of the show. Even if it was subtitles in another African language, then people in the region would understand it more than, say, The Dark Knight film spoken in Swahili.

Social Media Follows etc.

Download on Play Store: Tango TV

Website: Tango TV

Facebook: Tango TV TZ

Twitter: Tango TV TZ

Tanzania X Factor: Bongo Star Search

Digital transformation in Tanzania hospitals – how Geek Technologies make local businesses paperless

Overview

As more of East Africa goes online, they need web services.

The trend is towards broader access to the internet and with that
a demand towards bringing more and more offline interactions into the digital world.

In Tanzania, this is exactly what Geek Technologies are doing

Mbelwa and I discuss the trend towards making services digital, how they win customers and why they decided to name their business Geek Technologies

It’s an insightful interview about technology in the country, and so I hope you enjoy

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“After graduating I started Geek Technologies with my friends”

The core services we provide are graphic design, website design and software development. We also do PC Maintainence etc.

“Our team is nine”

The three founders and then six part time workers who undertake specific functions such as marketing.

“We do not market ourselves Face-to-Face”

Instead we focus on getting customers through social media platforms and advertising agencies. We have about 50 customers.

“Paperless Hospital System is my favourite project”

It’s all about making things more efficient in hospitals by using digital processes, helping save lives, and increasing incomes.

“We just said ‘Paperless’”

When it came to winning this big contract, we convinced the person at the hospital that this was the best way forward. As it was our first customer, we went to them.

“Trusting start ups is the biggest lesson”

Customers really want to learn that you are doing all of the professional things and that they can entrust you. This helps by being as open as possible. Never lie.

“University and the internet”

This is how we learnt how to do the skills that we now provide for customers.

“To redesign a website it’ll roughly cost $200”

Most companies can afford this, however for private clients that’s probably quite restrictive.

“Personal communications are now online”

Very few companies using social media for business purposes, and so we are finding good results when people see our adverts.

“Digital data is a big prize”

The country is instilling a movement where more and more services are going to move online. The Tanzania Backbone is the nation’s fibre optic internet connection that is being installed.

“‘Geek Technologies’ needs to stand out”

The word is still thought of as “a bit weird”, but we’re happy with that. Not everyone knows what it means, but we tell people that it’s about the person who uses computers to maximum. That’s us.

Social Media Follows etc.

Paperless Hospital System: case study

Website: Geek Technologies

Facebook: Geek Technologies

How Living Labs teaches entrepreneurship to rural Tanzanians, with Victoria John

Overview

Education is something which a lot of people are hungry for.

Living Lab is a non-profit organisation in Tanzania that looks to empower people in low income communities
through giving training in entrepreneurship and leadership

In this interview, Victoria and I discuss the demographics of their participants, the logistics around organising rural education programmes and why liquid soap production is a popular business idea

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“We help people in entrepreneurship and leadership”

Living Lab is a non-profit organisation that works with low income people across Tanzania.

“Training program”

We help people go through different training regimes so that they have skills to act upon their ideas that they have.

“18-29 is the typical age”

It varies, but most people undertaking this part-time training program are in this age range.

“Most people are risk averse”

Lots of people do things that are similar to each other, often for fear of doing something different. The most popular are liquid soap and computer training.

“People have to start from zero”

In beginning the program people have to come up with an idea that they can start with no money. Such as turning water bottles into dustbins.

“No beef”

Living Lab is in partnership with the Finnish government. As far as I’m aware Tanzania and Finland get on well!

“Commitment is the key”

You need to be really committed in order to help change someone. Else failure is at your doorstep.

“People are tired of doing the same thing every day”

We find that the demand for coming on the course is huge. People really want the chance to improve their lives.

“Lessons take place in town”

So it’s easy for people to take the bus into the town and are then able to come to us.

“How to come up with an idea”

This is the most important skill that I want people to understand. We use a number of tools to help with idea generation.

“A dress out of paper”

We gave our students a piece of paper to come up with an idea. One of them came back wearing it as a dress.

“Our own businesses”

Cover the costs of Living Labs. For example, I run a dry cleaning business that helps to keep Living Labs operational.

“Just make it clean!”

Is the best advice I can give for running a dry cleaning business.

Social Media Follows etc.

Website: Living Lab

Lotus Flower idea generation

Facebook: Mbeya Lab

Twitter: Mbeya Lab

Cycling with elephants: breaking new ground in Tanzanian travel with Mejah Mbuya from Afriroots

Overview

When most people think of East Africa, they visualise safari.

The region is home to many large and exotic animals which parade through the national parks

Mejah runs Afriroots, a tour company which focuses on experiences that are off the beaten track

We discuss the different customer types they have, how he started his company with $200 and what to do if you ever become confronted by a lion.

We were also next to where an aerobics class was taking place, and so if you hear some throbbing beats in the background, it’s just that.

Either way, it’s a really interesting discussion about the tourism market in Tanzania and so I hope you enjoy.

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“We’re an adventure and eco-tourism company”

There are bicycle tours, hiking and game drives. We always look to minimise the amount of time that someone is sat in a car.

“Bicycle safari is our big new thing”

We recently got permission to run bicycle tours through a National Park in Tanzania. We’re the first people doing this.

“It was a new idea”

At the beginning we were sent around to many government agencies as they couldn’t decide if we were a sports company, or a tourism company…

“We started with $200”

To start a normal safari company is expensive (buying 4x4s etc.). We didn’t have that.

“The expat/ volunteer market was underserved”

These are people who are here for a while. They want to do something at the weekend, but don’t have tons of money to spend. We started hiking trips at the weekend.

“We’re in every embassay”

Our posters are in each building where tourists go to. We’re also in the guidebooks like Lonely Planet.

“We stopped publicising tour details”

There were other (rogue) tour companies who would just copy our tour schedule when it was on our website. We are now more discrete…

“Attitude is the most important”

When it comes to hiring guides. As well as speaking English. Typically we go for people who have just finished school, rather than getting experienced people.

“The Afriroots vision is…”

Environmentally friendly. Socially concious. Thinking outside of the box.

“Business has been slow this year”

It’s been due to the introduction of VAT. It became an unexpected cost to the tour providers and so some of them had to cancel.

“Patience pays”

I’ve learnt that things need to start small. It doesn’t need a huge input of money, but instead it needs an input of ideas.

“Buying a bicycle”

This was what we spent our first $200 on. Because we were doing something we loved we didn’t mind doing everything and starting small.

“I’m excited about National Park bicycle tours”

We’re looking to do mapping in all of the National Parks so that we can find routes which are safe for people to cycle through.

“Play it cool with lions”

With lions, don’t run and don’t make eye contact. Elephants, make noise at them.

“… but I’m scared of buffalo”

They’re always angry. They will look to trample on humans were as other animals will leave people alone.

“We want to leave a legacy”

We’re not focusing too much on wealth creation, but instead on making jobs and bringing tourists to new sites across Tanzania.

Social Media Follows etc.

Uwaba: Promoting bicycles in Dar es Salaam

Graffiti: interview

Website: www.afriroots.co.tz

Facebook: Afriroots Adventures

Most Popular Tour: Dar Reality Tour

Building “Spotify for Africa” with Martin Nielsen from Mdundo

Overview

One of the things I’ve found interesting is how proven international business models are being applied in East Africa.

Music streaming is one of these.

In years gone by people in Europe and the US would own CDs but now stream through services like Spotify, which pays royalties to its artists and makes music accessible to all.

Martin, who started Mdundo, is doing this in East Africa, though… it’s a little different.

We discuss the particulars of the African music market, the considerations in scaling their business and what they look for in hiring talent.

The room is slightly echo-y, so apologies in advance, however I hope this doesn’t detract from our very interesting conversation

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“Mdundo is a music service”

It started in 2012. From talking to stakeholders in the music industry it felt there was a big gap in the market.

“Our philosophy is similar to Spotify but…”

Operationally it’s different. We want people to access high quality music on their devices, and move away from illegal streaming sites.

“There are no record labels here”

It’s a very fragmented industry. We allow musicians to sign up and list their music onto the platform and then earn royalties when people play it.

“Licensing is a barrier”

Spotify aren’t operating here because it’s difficult for them to strike deals with disparate musicians and list local music on the service. You can’t go on Spotify and listen to a Kenyan artist and therefore local consumers won’t be satisfied with the service.

“There’s potential in live shows”

This is an area of the music industry which is really picking up. I think that record labels and signing deals is a difficult thing to go into.

“We’ve had some resistance from musicians”

And it’s basically down to trust. They are a one-man record label that are looking for ways to monetise their brand. Most money is from live shows and little from distribution. They don’t see how it will ever be a significant revenue stream.

“To be profitable we need to scale across Africa”

The key to our business is to be able to grow across many African countries and operate in many markets. This way we’ll get synergies.

“Growing the user base is straightforward”

It’s mostly being actively searched for. Musicians share on Facebook and so listeners find us quite easily.

“Filling the catalogue is key”

The most important song is the next one. If we aren’t able to provide a song for a listener then they’ll go off and use a pirated site and so we’ve probably lose them.

“Our listenership has changed”

It started off young, but now more and more it’s the older generation who are listening. Because of the demographics, in Kenya, above 35 is considered “old”

“Streaming is picking up fast”

‘Access to music’ started off meaning mp3 download. Now though we’re seeing more and more people streaming which is more in line with European markets, mainly because the cost of data has gone down.

“Mdundo means ‘beat/ rhythm’”

In Swahili. I wrote down a lot of words to do with music and then asked my friend to translate. “Mdundo” won.

“Content is key”

We need to ensure we have the Top 50 artists signed up before we launch. Also, we want young, hungry people to join the team.

“I’m surprised how much…”

… great quality music is being produced which no-one outside of Mdundo has been able to listen to yet.

“Taking the catalogue global”

Because we have a number of great musicians listed on our service we hope that it can be heard around the world.

Social Media Follows etc.

Android app: Mdundo

Website: www.mdundo.com

Listen to Martin’s fave: Just A Band

Selling cakes (and training cake makers), with Grace Murugi from Cakes.co.ke

Overview

If you consider businesses that bring people joy, for me at least, cake is one of them.

It’s also a product which is being bought by the emerging middle class especially in Kenya, with custom made ones being sold for up to $180.

Grace not only makes these cakes, but teaches others how to with her Cake Academy.

We discuss the customers who are buying cakes, how she taught her team to run the business when she went on maternity leave and innovations in the cake industry.

The interview took place outside her shop, and so there is a bit of background noise and not all of the answers are fully audible.

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“It started when I was at university”

We’ve been going for eight years and now have our own shop which also houses our cake academy.

“We train people to make their own cakes”

There seemed to be room for improvement in teaching people how to make cakes, and so after starting making my own, I now teach others.

“How creative can we get?”

We’re looking at introducing fruit and chocolate on the cakes as well as different shapes. We learn from our customers and from bakeries across the world.

“Instagram!”

Is where we get a lot inspiration.

“We do custom made cakes all the time”

Most people who come into the shop are buying a bespoke cake. These can cost from $30 up to $180.

“Our customers are the upper middle class”

They earn typically earn $20,000 – $30,000 per year. We then have the wedding cake industry too which is even more.

“We’re big on innovation”

Customers come to us to get the latest designs in cakes. We’re at the forefront of cake innovation in Kenya.

“Production is our biggest cost”

Buying things like icing sugar, paying wages and then utilities such as electricity and WiFi.

“We keep several suppliers”

When it comes to critical ingredients like cream, we need to keep accounts open with several in case one of them fails.

“I teach people recipes I’ve perfected”

I took a couple of classes back in 2005 and since then have been changing the recipes to make them better, such as adding an extra egg.

“We’re big on cupcakes”

These come from people who want to buy a present for the office to celebrate, or just as a walk in purchase.

“We reach our customers online”

This is via Facebook marketing, Instagram and we’re considering LinkedIn marketing too. There are also cake festivals and fairs that we attend too.

“People are seeing Cake Academy as a route to employment”

It’s inspirational for people to see success stories of people setting up their own businesses. 100s of people apply to join the course.

“I’ll be focusing on the Cake Academy”

Teaching other people is where my passion lies. We’re wanting to partner with other bakeries internationally.

“… but passion isn’t everything”

It’s important to learn business skills such as financial statements.

“I read business books and took classes”

These gave me some fundamental approaches to how to run the business which I’ve been applying such as allowing me more time strategise about the business. This all came once I was going on maternity leave.

“Franchise is the future”

The way that we’re looking to grow is by documenting everything that we do and then selling the rights to others to set up their own shops.

Social Media Follows etc.

Grace’s favourite book: The E Myth, Michael Gerber

Greatness Business Club: on Facebook

Facebook: Cakes.co.ke

Instagram: Cakes.co.ke

Website: www.cakes.co.ke

Pictures of cakes

Cakes.co.ke Cake 1
Cakes.co.ke Cake 2
Cakes.co.ke Cake 3

The CEO of iHub gives an overview of the East Africa tech ecosystem, with Kamal Bhattacharya

Overview

One of the first places I had earmarked for learning about business in Kenya was the iHub.

From reading up on business in East Africa it was always mentioned as the heart of the tech scene
not only in Kenya but also of the whole region.

In fact, when rumours leaked that I would be interviewing Kamal for this podcast, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made sure to drop in for a visit when he was in Africa in late July.

Kamal and I discuss the government’s role in fostering scalable businesses across East Africa, what makes a good pitch and the areas of growth that he sees in the Kenyan economy.

It’s a very interesting conversation that we have, and I hope you enjoy

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“iHub began six years ago”

The original goal was to create a physical space for people who were interested in technology to come together in Nairobi. We now have several components to the organisation.

“Every entrepreneur in Kenya has been through iHub”

We’re not taking credit for them all, but everyone will have passed by for a meeting or to be incubated. I recently inherited this global brand.

“How do we bring value to our community?”

The two things we’re looking at are improving the basic business hygiene of the organisation, and then how can we be better than what we are today.

“Kenya’s growth areas are agribusiness and FinTech”

And this is representative of the startups that come through iHub. This has been helped also by the [ubiquity of M-Pesa].

“I’m beginning to see overlap”

When I sit before pitches, I’m beginning to see repetition of ideas. This isn’t that bad though, as there’s enough space for many.

“I’ve seen a shift away from social enterprises”

The focus of pitches now seem to be more driven by making money which changes the style of the pitch.

“Leadership is an underappreciated quality”

It’s one of the things that I look for in entrepreneurs: not just the idea, but how they carry themselves.

“Considerations about scalability”

Compared to India, businesses will likely be harder to scale than in East Africa. There are different regulators to deal with across multiple countries.

“The blessing of no natural resources”

The fact that Kenya isn’t heavily endowed with natural resources means that we’ve had to develop a diversified economy.

“We want iHub to make businesses more investable”

Our goal is to prepare companies to be designed in such a way that investors are much more comfortable investing, and for this to be a real driver in the economic growth of Kenya.

“We haven’t seen big, big returns”

When it comes to diagnosing why there might not be as much investment occurring, the fact that there haven’t been huge success stories means it is likely that a risky investment will pay off.

“My biggest surprise is how strong the iHub brand is”

Internationally iHub is an incredibly recognisable and well-known entity. Lots of people are excited about what we’re doing. In the summer, Mark Zuckerberg came by during his day in East Africa.

Social Media Follows etc.

Website: http://ihub.co.ke/

Kamal’s blog: here

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iHubNairobi/

Twitter: @iHub

The effusive Dr Suudi gives us a taste of his Ugandan radio adverts

Overview

Coming from the UK, one of the biggest differences in East Africa has been how products are marketed.

In the co-working space I was at in London we would talk about Google Ad campaigns and reaching users online through content marketing. Here though, the radio is a dominant form of advertising.

In this episode I talk with Suudi who runs Wave Records.

We discuss his extensive experience in the radio industry, why old car radios can only play on restricted frequency and listen to some of his catchy jingles, including a slightly… interesting one about a Ugandan girl getting a Chinese boyfriend (at around 18 minutes)

We were in his recording studio and so there might be a bit of activity/ phone interference going on in the background and it gets a bit echo-y at the end.  Sorry about that.

Hopefully it won’t detract from one of the… most unique interviews I’ve had.

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years”

I do lots of things in the music industry and I started Wave Records a couple of years ago.

“We have all the customers”

The banks, telcos and other industries in Uganda who have radio adverts, they all come to us.

“TV as well”

Whilst most of what we do is radio, we also offer TV.

“Our adverts are like hit songs”

People are informed of what products through the catchy jingles which we produce.

“93% of people in Uganda listen to the radio”

Most people listen to the radio when they are in the taxi. In old cars you can only listen to frequency of 88-91. Newer cars have more stations.

“In urban centres there are 30 radio stations”

There are some popular stations and unpopular ones. It’s all to do with both music and the chat that the presenters have.

“I’ve been radio since I was 12 years old”

A lot of the population will know me. My business partner Ronnie is also a bit of a radio celebrity.

“Clients don’t follow machines”

They follow the people. When we left our old jobs and started Wave Records these clients came with us.

“We create according to the audience”

Some clients will want a simple voice-over. Others will want one with more catchy jingles. Often the same company will have several types of adverts out at the same time.

“Here are some jingles”

Go to around 16 minutes to listen to some jingles that we recently produced.

“We pay voice over artists a day rate”

Typically we’ll find people through friends and those who we meet. The more experience you have, the more you can charge, because clients can recognise the voice.

“I see opportunities in billboards”

They make a lot of money. If you’re doing a radio advert it’s also useful to follow it up with a billboard campaign too.

“I’ve done a million radio adverts”

I do 150 adverts a week. This is because we do adverts into lots of different languages. In Uganda there are 54 languages spoken.

“Social media has been tough on us”

These days clients are also using Facebook and WhatsApp which means there’s less room for radio adverts.

“Reach 10,000 people in 10 minutes”

Just set up a WhatsApp group have people share it and suddenly you’re getting good coverage.

“There’s coverage all over Uganda”

The government has a station in each region. There are also the private companies, like us, who exist. Unlike the BBC, the state-run radio stations here are probably the worst.

Social Media Follows etc.

Facebook: Dr Suudi

Email: [email protected]

A history of surveying and market research in Kenya with Boniface Ngahu from SBO Research

Overview

Understanding the consumer is an important part of a lot of businesses.

Boniface is a director at SBO Research, a Market Research company that has been in business in Kenya since the mid-nineties.

After finding them on Google I went in for a chat and we spoke about his perspective of the market.

We discuss the change in political conditions that brought about the growth in market research industry, how drones are assisting researchers and whether an insurance policy will pay out if an eagle eats a chicken.

 

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Here are some of the key quotes:

“We started in 1993”

Our first job was doing surveying for Standard Chartered. We now serve over 50 clients per year.

“Understanding market gaps is the main value”

Clients come to us to get insights into the Kenyan market and whether their product/ service will fit.

“FMCG companies are common clients”

Companies with many employees are serving many customers and therefore want to employ services in order to best understand them.

“Government is our biggest customer”

They spend a lot on surveys to understand citizen satisfaction for the public services that are being offered. Often this is for commercial projects (like providing electricity) where there is private sector competition.

“We use mobiles to conduct surveys”

Agents talk to people, typically in their home, and record the responses that come from the survey.

“They chat on Whatsapp before”

When conducting focus groups, the client doing the research has the chance to communicate with everyone in a Whatsapp group to cover the basics beforehand.

“‘If an eagle eats my chicken, will I get paid?’”

Boni was doing a focus group for a new micro-insurance company and this was a pressing question one of the farmers had. Turns out that as eagles are wildlife and belongs to the government, the insurance company won’t pay out as its the government’s remit…

“Historically there would be only one brand”

The government had a regime where there was, say, only one type of cooking oil. As such, there’s no need for market research, because that is the market. Markets were liberalised in 1992, SBO Research was began the following year.

“Our clients are international”

But our insights come from Africa. Typically a multi-national corporation looking to introduce a new product line.

“Insights from inventory”

We track stock levels for different shop owners, in doing so we are able to deduce the market share that different products have.

“Technology will be the game changer”

Competition is coming from non-typical sources, such as Facebook and other telcos. We’re also seeing drones being used to observe how consumers interact with a product.

“We’ll want to hire more researchers”

As the industry grows this is one of the skills that we will want to get into SBO Research as we grow. The skills are scarce though, so good researchers bounce around.

“Bottom of the Pyramid consumers need to be approached differently”

This is a paper that Boni wrote. The typical consumer thinks differently to the ‘elite’ customer.

“My cleaner tells me what to buy”

If you advertise to Boni what cleaning product to buy, I won’t know what it is. If the cleaning product is targeted to my cleaner however, then she will build loyalty and tell me what I need to buy. Cleaning product companies should therefore target the BOP customers rather than “elite” customers.

Social Media Follows etc.

Net Promoter Score

Understanding the African consumer paper

Website: www.sboresearch.co.ke

Other articles: from Business Daily

Supporting Ugandan small holder farmers with affordable services, with Peter Nyeko from Reparle

Overview

During my travels in East Africa, time and again people would point to the low prices that farmers receive as the main blocker to development.

Low prices come from not being able to store produce, nor do the basic milling to give it more value. It’s difficult though, as much of the basic infrastructure such as transport, power and facilities are absent in the many rural areas that exist in the region.

Peter Nyeko set up Reparle as a marriage of three organisations to solve exactly this. We talk about the environment that many rural farmers are living, how Reparle learnt about the conditions they worked in and the considerations with planning out a large scale project like this.

We also talk a fair bit about biomass, and so if you’re interested in learning more about this solar alternative to clean energy creation, look out for the Clean Cooking episode I did with Ziwa from Green Bioenergy.

 

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Here are the key quotes:

“Reparle stands for…”

Renewable Energy Empowering Agriculture and Rural Livelihood Enhancement

“It’s a project made up of others”

Mandulis Energy (which focuses on biomass energy), Dream Shuttle (for logistics and distribution), Acted (French NGO) which helps us focus on social impact.

“We provide small holder farmer services”

We give them access to processing facilities as well as means to have electricity and clean cooking facilities.

“Selling raw means a poor price”

When a commodity has no processing, it needs to be sold at a low price to traders. Reparle gives facilities to farmers (such as storage and milling) which means they can add value to their product and receive a higher price.

“We provide milling within 10 miles of where they live”

There are up to 6,000 farmers who can access each milling facility at one of the Reparle hubs. We are also able to link up farmers to electricity in the off-grid areas.

“Reparle for profit but…”

It’s also a social business. We offer farmers agricultural services, clean fuel and electrcity at below market price .

“Solar is really expensive”

And so we offer biomass electricity which is a quarter of the cost of solar. It’s all about getting the logistics of moving reliable biomass to generate electricity.

“Lack of infrastructure has been a barrier to entry”

Larger organisations have been put off doing this because they have needed electricity and transport systems to run the business. Reparle have been able to build this infrastructure and so are creating the market.

“There’s also not the capacity”

Millers can’t run their factories any more. Most of Ugandans don’t have electricity or these other services, and so we go to these virgin markets.

“We’ve had awesome knowledge transfer”

Between the three entities (renewable energy, logistics and social impact) we’ve had recognition from reputable international organisations around what we’ve achieved.

“In Africa the one thing you can’t control is political risk”

For this I mean instability just popping up. You have to leave that to insurance. Other than that we built a system to mitigate other risks that we might face.

“Our on grid project took a decade”

Supplying electricity from our plants to the Uganda Electric Grid has taken time, but nevertheless has been pretty straightforward.

“We prepared for many scenarios”

Lots of things such as if regulation changed, deadlines were missed, and costs were to jump. Projects are planned to cater for 1.5 times the worst case scenario.

“We walked in the fields with farmers”

From the start we have worked as farmers ourselves which allowed us to design a system that was built for them and what they would need.

Links etc.

Mandulis Energy Dream Shuttle Acted NGO CFO World Economic Forum Top 10 Female Innovators

Social Media Follows etc.

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