How does it work?

Africa is home to more than 1 billion inhabitants who experience some of the highest levels of poverty globally, with over 60 percent of the population living on less than $2 per day. The region also has some of the lowest levels of financial inclusion, with over 600 million unbanked people who lack access to formal financial services. Despite these constraints, millions of transactions take place every day in the informal sector, which accounts for 55% of the continent’s GDP and 80% of the labor force in 2014.

Approximately 25 percent of the average household budget within this demographic is spent on energy. In Kenya, solar home systems in particular are a growing source of energy. Customers typically pay for these systems on a lease-to-own model using mobile money. Over 10,000 of these solar payment transactions take place daily across the country, the majority of which go unrecorded by financial institutions.