It is estimated that 592 million people in Africa are living
without access to electricity.Most of these people live outside of urban centers,
and therefore out of reach of the continent’s electricity grid. And as many of
us have experienced, the existing systems in many African countries
even struggle to supply enough energy to the homes and businesses that are
on the grid.
Pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) solar technology has become Africa’s most promising
approach to handling the continent’s growing energy problems. PAYGo users pay a
small downpayment for a solar kit that provides up to eight hours of emission-free
lighting every day, as well as enough energy to charge mobile phones
and other devices. With PayGo solar, residents are able to reduce their energy
spending by up to 50%.
PAYGo is a pioneering, game-changing credit system that removes the initial
financial barrier to solar energy access by allowing consumers to make a series
of modest payments to purchase time units (or tokens) for using solar electricity
instead of paying upfront for the entire solar lighting system. After the
payments are complete, the customer then owns the solar power device, which they
can use at no additional cost.
The objective of this challenge is to help predict the next six months of payments
for different customers. This will allow PAYGo distributors to provide
appropriate services and customer support, ensuring that they can continue to
provide these important devices affordably and efficiently to the benefit of
people all over Africa