Clean energy company, d.light launches in Nigeria

d.light, a global leader in social transformation by making transformative products available and affordable to low-income families, has launched in Nigeria.

The launch ceremony which took place some days ago, had distinguished dignitaries in attendance, including the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo; CEO, who gave his virtual goodwill message and Florian Seche, CEO of HMD, Global strategic partners to d.light. Others present were co-founder and CEO, Ned Tozun, co-founder and president Sam Goldman, the chairman of the board, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika amongst others.

Some months ago, d.light announced that it secured a $50 million investment from a consortium of lenders with a focus on the renewable energy space including SunFunder and TDB (Trade and Development Bank) as Co-arrangers and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, to Support its Expansion Drive in Africa.

Founded in 2007 by Ned Tozun & Sam Goldman, d.light has operated in several markets globally like India, China and Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia in Africa before expanding to the Nigerian market with over 25 million sustainable products including solar lanterns, solar home systems, TVs, radios and smartphones sold globally across over 70 countries.

Speaking about d.light’s passion to transform and impact billions of lives across the globe, the chairman of the board, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika explained that the goal of the company is to bridge the gap and ensure inclusiveness for everyone. “Our vision is to change the lives of billions of people on the face of the earth who are crying for equity to have a chance to live a better life.” We are in Nigeria to transform Africa one community at a time, and this is our driving force she said.

Giving the opening address at the launch, co-founder and president Sam Goldman said “The reality is that we are still so far from where we need to be in terms of our population and their needs. Hence our target market are the low income individuals; not just the rural communities which is why the company adopts the ‘pay-as-you-go” model. Access to sustainable energy will not be possible except we solve the funding problem.

According to the co-founder and CEO, Ned Tozun in his own address, he stated that d.light has provided employment for over 6,000 people across Africa.,

“Our target is lower income individuals. There is sun in the village and the cities, so when we just say a rural market, it is not. The guy who lives in Lagos, but doesn’t have a generator shouldn’t even use a generator if he can have a solar solution. Why? Because of environmental sustainability. So, when you think about all the ESG matters, you will encourage more people to use alternate sources of energy rather than polluting sources of energy and that helps everywhere; whether you are in the city or in the village. It is about lower income.”

“What we’ve done is to think of the entire problem chain. Firstly, innovate the product. Two, how do you deliver it? Deliver it to them at the most reasonable price. Thirdly, make sure it’s affordable for them. How is it affordable? It is pay-as-you-go. They don’t have to look for the capital to buy. They look for signing-up, proving they have the ability to be able to pay every week – they have different system: every week, every month, every day – are different options that are available and as you increase your credibility ratio in terms of your performance, you then have opportunity to get into more,” he added.

The company also used the opportunity to launch an inverter battery system, the iMax 10 Solar Power System.