Pay as you go solar refrigeration is helping reduce food waste in the markets of Lagos, Nigeria

Location & Region: Lagos, Nigeria / Africa

Partner: Efficiency for Access

Implementer: Cooling As a Service (CAAS), Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), Koolboks

System: Urban / Renewable energy, solar, technology, finance

A portable, climate-friendly and solar-powered refrigeration system is helping reduce food waste in Nigeria by providing a reliable source of cold storage, able to generate continued refrigeration for up to four days without the need of additional power.

This type of technology is particularly useful in areas where access to electricity is limited or unreliable, as it eliminates the need for backup generators and other expensive and environmentally harmful power sources. By providing a simple, affordable, and sustainable way to store food, this solution has the potential to make a significant impact on reducing food waste and improving food security in the markets of Lagos.

Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE) and Koolboks developed the "Cooling as a Service" (CaaS) contract, a financing model that allows traders in Nigeria to access the refrigeration technology without having to make a large upfront payment. With CaaS, traders can pay for refrigeration services as they use it on a weekly or monthly basis, making it more affordable and accessible. This financing model helps to overcome the barrier of high upfront costs, which can be a significant obstacle for the local market workers, mostly women, who would otherwise be unable to afford refrigeration, having a direct impact on income increase.

“Having solar freezers can really help our business, and our cost of consumption on diesel will come down and what we will pay on electricity unit will also come down” - Mr Mojidi of Crown Ventures, Lagos, Nigeria.

Koolboks aims to continue its expansion in providing cooling services under the modality pay as you go across Nigeria. In 2022, the company received a USD $500,000 investment from All On for this objective.

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