What: Clair de Lune is an innovative social enterprise that has developed a processes innovation that now allows our organization to deliver solar lanterns and electricity to rural communities in Burkina Faso.
Why: Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the least electrified regions of the world, with nearly 60% urban and 99% rural residents in Burkina Faso living without regular electricity. Instead, people are reliant on outdated and harmful kerosene lamps that pose health and physical risks, continuously drain funds from often tight daily wages (costing on average $6.15 per month or 10% of a rural household’s annual income), while producing poor quality light.
How: Our process innovation sells solar lanterns to the growing middle class in West Africa who will remit them to family members living in rural, unelectrified areas. This solution “piggy-backs” on two existing networks and behaviors: first, it capitalizes on the existing cultural practice of regularly sending goods, such as flashlights and cell phones, to family members and second, leveraging bus infrastructure both as a means of delivery to rural areas and as a marketing channel to our customers.
clairdelunesolution 