Dutch-based social enterprise, PreMal has launched MTego, a solar-powered mosquito trap in Kenya.
Founded in 2019, PreMal is focused on the development and commercialisation of high-performance mosquito trapping systems. The enterprise is driven and motivated by the ambition of reducing mosquito-borne diseases, thus stimulating economic growth and empowering people.
According to the Centre for Disease Control in Kenya, there are 3.5 million cases of malaria recorded each year. It is believed that “MTego” will enable the East African country to more effectively combat the mosquitoes attracted by the drought.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malaria causes 627,000 deaths each year worldwide, 96% of which are in Africa. Faced with this situation, which is exacerbated by the global warming affecting Kenya, the Dutch start-up PreMal, based in Nairobi, is developing “MTego”, a mosquito trap that runs on solar energy.
MTego which is currently getting a good deal of traction in Nairobi is being implemented in partnership with Engie Energy Access, the Kenyan subsidiary of the French energy group Engie, which specialises in off-grid solutions.
Premal said, “MTego uses an electric fan that consumes very little energy, but does not use insecticides. It is a mosquito trap that works very well with a solar home system because it works on the principle of counter-current air that diffuses characteristic human odours outside homes.”
According to Fredrick Noballa, Country Manager of Engie Energy Access Kenya, this solution leverages clean energy and improves the living conditions of rural communities in East Africa where they often have to deal with climate change-related diseases and low electricity access.
