Easy Solar

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; SIERRA LEONE

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Easy Solar provides pay-as-you-go solar-powered lighting and charging systems to people with no electricity access in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Easy Solar’s vision is to make energy, financial services and life improving products, affordable and accessible for all. They offer a range of products including solar lanterns, home lighting systems, appliances and cookstoves on affordable financing plans. All of their products are of the highest quality and come with a two-year warranty. Easy Solar is a social enterprise, which employs over 500 people to date, selling its products in Sierra Leone and Liberia. In these two West African countries, Easy Solar has installed solar devices in over 50,000 homes, providing access to electricity to more than 450,000 people. The company’s efforts have been recognized by the Schwab Foundation, which awarded Easy Solar the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019).

Co-Founder Nthabiseng Mosia made the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list in 2019, in the category of “game-changers” in technology. She says, “We started as an energy company but four years later, I now know what we really are, is a people company. Day by day, we are realizing more that our mission of ‘lighting up lives’ goes beyond providing access to energy. At Easy Solar, we care about and seek to make a positive impact with the people in our local communities.”

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 800 customers within the pilot phase

• Create 5 jobs within the pilot phase

• Reach 1,400 customers at the end of year 1

• Create 24 jobs by the end of year 1

• Reach 10,000 customers by the end of year 2

• Create 50 jobs by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

• Nthabiseng Mosia - Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer

• Alexandre Tourre - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

• Eric Silverman - Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer

 

TextDirect

PATIENT IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

TextDirect will introduce an automated system that sends mobile phone text messages reminders to patients. 

Learn more about the Patient Identification Challenge and why identifying individuals in need of treatment suffering from health conditions such as obstetric fistula, cervical cancer, club foot, and cataracts which can be corrected with cost-effective interventions, could save lives. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Low adherence to antimalarial therapy jeopardizes the efficacy of treatment, leading to loss of productivity, higher mortality, and spread of the disease. By creating a mobile phone system through which health workers can register their patients for free reminders, we can scale this technology to clinics around the country. 

The project will operate in Uganda, the country with the third-highest malaria morality rate in the world, and will target patients receiving Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) which the World Health Organization recommends as the most effective treatment for malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the course of medication is fairly straightforward (typically three to four pills for three days), many patients fail to follow through due to perceived cure after the first dose. Inadequate use of ACT means that patients remain infected, increasing the risk of transmission to others while contributing to the appearance of drug resistant strains. 

Setting up the project will consist of two main phases: establishing the text message system and operationalizing the program. TextDirect will activate a toll-free number, set up a database with two primary tables (health workers and patients), collect contact and medical information of malaria patients, and disseminate short text reminders to patients at the time when they are supposed to take their ACT dosage. Health workers will be incentivized with phone credit to sign up patients.

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Grow from 15 to 45 participating health workers during the 3 months of the pilot 
• Increase the number of patients receiving text massages from 150 to 1,150 during the pilot 
• By year 1, over 84,000 patients will receive text messages and 324 health workers will sign up new patients 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Shashank Iyer - Executive Director 

Nitsan Shakked - Chief Operating Officer 

Anudeep Yegireddi - Chief Technology Officer 

Siago Sanfelice - Chief Financial Officer