Hauwa Ali
A Lagos based company, QuadLoophas turned electronic wastes into rechargeable solar lanterns.
Owned by a Nigerian entrepreneur, Dozie Igweilo, the company seek to address the country’s energy shortage by inventing solar lanterns from discarded electronic materials.
QuadLoop develops the lantern with 70% coming from e-waste materials that comprise the batteries and frame and the remaining 30% from imported components. The frame is made of glass from discarded television screens and computer monitors. The cost is about $50 and the target market is hospitals that are located in rural areas without access to a power grid or constant power.
With the product named Idunnu, meaning joy in the Yoruba language, the founder hope’s that the product will benefit many people.
“The power situation in Nigeria is one of the key things that motivated me to start this business. I started looking at energy products that will serve a percentage of the population. There is no way there can be electricity without electronics,” says the founder and chief executive officer of QuadLoop, DozieIgweilo.
“If we look at local electronics production, we can’t say we want to start from scratch like the Chinese. So, we have to start from somewhere, and what do we have? We have a lot of waste due to our population. And when you talk about waste, what comes to mind is plastic. But people ignore e-waste, which is probably the most hazardous because of the chemical component.”
The company which started small is now able to sell larger quantities of the solar lantern through its website and online platforms like Jumia and Konga.
Founder DozieIgweilo says that a lot of people need solar lanterns, so there is a high market demand. Nevertheless, the company gives discounts to their customers who purchase high volumes of battery capacity to stay competitive.
Quadloop’s product is an immediate and sustainable solution to the power shortage. Not only does it help eliminate the patient’s supplemented cost of power, but it could increase the number of functioning primary health care facilities and bring care to many more people.
Quadloop has plans to expand its client base to countries in Central Africa such as Rwanda and Botswana which have similar power issues as Nigeria, and according to Igweilo, the future is bright for utilizing waste for electronic production.