one million Nigerians in 2017.
Already, over 150,000 Nigerians enjoy reliable, affordable and safe solar electricity 24/7 through the service. Customers pay for the Lumos solar system as they go, easily paying with their mobile phones. Purchasing electricity costs less than 50 US cents a day.
Today"s announcement of the nationwide roll out was made by the CEOs of Lumos and MTN Nigeria at a launch event in Abuja where keynote speeches were delivered by the Nigerian Power Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the US Ambassador to Nigeria. Mr. W. Stuart Symington.
Marketed as Mobile Electricity powered by Lumos, and available at MTN stores, this system enables Nigerians across the country to replace expensive, dangerous and noisy generators with modern solar electricity that can power lights, cellphones, fans, computers, TVs and other electronic devices (all at once, every day)– for as low as NGN150 per day.
The Lumos technology includes a large solar panel linked to an indoor unit that allows customers to access significant amounts of power on-demand, day or night, all paid for by the credit on their MTN mobile devices. Customers receive full repair services during over five years, assuring peace of mind and a well-delivered product.
The service has been a success to date in Nigeria, aided by the financing of OPIC and initial grants from DFID and GSMA. MTN and Lumos Nigeria, after expanding their partnership with OPIC in 2016, are ready to rapidly scale the service across Nigeria and bring accessible, affordable and clean electricity to one million people in 2017 and many more thereafter.
"The MTN and Lumos partnership is poised to scale clean and affordable, off-grid power across all of Nigeria. With the backing of OPIC and Power Africa, MTN and Lumos plan to bring electricity to over 1 million Nigerians this year. The solar technology of Lumos and the easy payment process with MTN airtime provides a seamless customer experience for Nigerians looking for modern clean electricity," a quote from the MTN shows.
According to Lumos, this initiative is a major milestone, which will accelerate their growth in Nigeria and improve the lives of millions.
"Having the backing of institutions such as OPIC and Power Africa provides a vote of confidence in our plans and helps spread our service across Nigeria," said Davidi Vortman, CEO and Co-Founder at Lumos Global.
Yuri Tsitrinbaum, Lumos Nigeria CEO said "Together with MTN, we are committed to supporting Nigeria's efforts to address power access challenges and pledge to increase our contribution to spreading clean energy solutions that will impact the lives of millions of Nigerians living off-grid".