Pay-as-you-go (PayGo) services have long been touted as an answer to the challenge of bringing affordable electricity to hundreds of millions of people currently off the grid. But the business model is not without pitfalls. In some cases, the promise of energy access has turned into a debt burden for the world’s poorest, while high-profile players have already fallen prey to the dynamics of the uncharted market. The industry is now at a crossroads and needs to find a way to strike a balance between rapid growth and customer protection.
Berlin-based Mobisol supplied solar lighting to this house in Rwanda. The company filed for insolvency in 2019, and was later acquired by French energy giant Engie.
Image: ENGIE Energy Access
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