8.  Frugal innovation concerns value-sensitive
design and marketing strategies that bring
sophisticated products within the reach of
relatively poorer consumers. Through re-engineering,
re-inventing or stripping down
high-value consumer products and
dramatically lowering their unit consumer
price, a significantly extended range of
products is made affordable for the roughly
four billion consumers at the Bottom of the
Pyramid (BoP), of whom about 500 million
live in Africa.

9.  Examples include Tata’s simplified
water purifier that provides poor
people with safe drinking water;
Unilever’s OMO sachets that
contain small amounts of detergent
specifically for hand washing in cold
water; Tata’s economical Nano car
that was produced for the
emerging Indian middle class and is
sold for about US$ 2000; and low-cost
solar lighting (Philips) that can
be used in places with no electricity.

10.  While these examples show their
developmental potential, frugal innovations
can also lead to increased environmental
damage and more exploitative labour
conditions if the ‘stripping down’ means
undercutting existing environmental and
labour standards. Moreover, when frugal
innovation and the technologies and strategies
it involves are fully developed in the
headquarters of Western or Chinese, Indian or
Brazilian companies without any interaction
with local entrepreneurs, these strategies are
less likely to be beneficial or successful in
Africa.

12.  In March this year SOLAR AID celebrated
one million solar lights in Africa and whilst
there is still much to do, I used this
milestone to take a moment to look back
and reflect. 13 years ago I was living in
rural Tanzania. Uhomini village was my
first experience of Africa and I lived next
door to a family of six, who lived in a very
basic, two roomed house which was
always full of children. One of those
children was a small boy called Festo,
who came to visit me every day for
months on end – you can see him
pictured with his cousin opposite. It was in
Festo’s home that I became all too
familiar with the kerosene lamp, the
dangers of burning these lights in small
houses with children around and the poor
quality of lighting they provided. Not to
mention the distance villagers had to
travel each time they needed to buy
another litre – for it wasn’t sold in the
village itself.

13.  When I left Uhomini, Festo was
a small boy of 4. As I walked
away from the village it struck
me that while the rest of the
world was changing quickly,
the kerosene lamp in his
house would remain. When I
returned to visit his family a
few years later, it was just as I
had suspected. Festo was
growing up and now at
school, but the kerosene lamp
was still burning. I asked
myself, would this be any
different if I came back in
another few years? What
about in ten, or fifty years?
 It was the answer to that
question that spurred the
beginnings of SolarAid, and it
was an answer that I couldn’t
accept. With the belief that no
one should have to risk their
life or drain their income to
light their home at night we
got to work. This belief has
driven us to where we are and
it is still what motivates me
today. Our social enterprise
SunnyMoney is building a
sustainable solution to
eradicating the kerosene
lamp, by making solar lights
available and affordable in
rural communities across
Africa.

14.  It took over six years to sell our
first million solar lights, but we
intend to achieve the next
million in just 12 months. It’s
important to me that we do
not let these numbers lose
their meaning and I can’t help
but think back and wonder:
what is lighting Festo’s home
today? I haven’t visited
Uhomini since 2009 so I don’t
know the answer, but I know
there’s still work to be done,
with over 110 million
households living without
electricity across Africa. That
translates to alot of children
just like Festo.
 If we want to achieve our goal
we need to grow, and fast. So
my job over the coming years
is to take our work into new
countries, and next on the list
is Uganda. Known as the Pearl
of Africa, it is a beautiful
country with plenty of sunshine
ready to be harnessed into
clean energy. Currently, only
4% of the rural population
have access to electricity,
with many families spending
up to 25% of their income just
to light their home.

15.  Breaking this cycle of poverty is a huge
challenge but our solar customers save
$70 a year on average. Our research
shows that they mostly invest this in
better food, costs of education and
improving their livelihoods. So it is easy
to see how one little light could have a
phenomenal impact on the lives of
families in rural Uganda.
 As I look back on my time in the village
of Uhomini and wonder what Festo uses
to light his homework at night, I am also
looking ahead to a time when no family
in Africa has to depend on kerosene. It
is, afterall, the 21st century.