Challenge Winner: Matsepiso Majoro
The Challenge: How can we ensure access to energy for all?
Supported by: CEZ Group
Despite progress, there are still more than 700 million people globally without access to electricity and a further 2.4 billion who must rely on burning harmful fuels for cooking. At current rates of progress, the percentage of those living without power is set to fall by just 7% by 2030. What is more, stalling progress on SDG 7 hinders a wide range of other development factors - unelectrified medical facilities put lives at risk, children have fewer hours of light for study, and entrepreneurs can’t make use of competitive technology.
Powering the sustainable future the world needs calls for greater investment from governments and business and CEZ Group is committed to helping make this future a reality. CEZ Group’s vision is to introduce innovations for addressing energy needs, contributing to greater quality of life. This challenge identified youth-led enterprises tackling the energy divide in the worst affected countries and regions.
About Mahlaseli Energy
Mahlaseli Energy is a renewable energy company in Lesotho providing correctly designed, affordable, reliable and sustainable solar off-grid solutions in Lesotho.
Since its establishment, the company has supplied and installed different sizes of solar off-grid solutions for homes and small businesses. It has about 300 solar off-grid solutions in rural off-grid communities with low household incomes.
Mahlaseli Energy seeks to achieve SDG7 by supplying affordable, reliable, sustainable off-grid solutions in Lesotho. Toward our mission of ultimately eliminating the upfront costs of owning a solar off-grid system in rural off-grid solutions of Lesotho, we plan to manufacture solar PayGo models with Wi-Fi; this will both reduce the cost of the system and improve access to education and technology for the rural child. Our Solutions greatly empower rural women as distributors and agents of our product in scattered rural communities.