RWANDA: German company partners EAP on solar-powered multi-service centres in rural areas

By Hauwa Ali with agency report
Solarkiosk Solutions (SKS), a German firm based in Berlin and regional East African Power (EAP) are launching a joint venture to build solar-powered multi-service centres in Rwanda .
The initiative according to the collaborators will expand to other countries in the Great Lakes region.
The joint venture has been set up to exploit the potential of solar energy in rural areas which will build solar-powered shopping centres.
The initiative is a multi-service centre that will house a hairdresser, a cinema and a retail shop. It is also expected to provide other services essential to rural life, including clean water, cold storage for crop management, electric mobility and clean cooking.
“ The pulse centre will be scalable due to its modular design and can become the anchor load for decentralised mini-grids as the surrounding communities grow and adopt electricity organically. According to SKS.
A pilot centre will also be built in Ruhunda, a town in Rwanda’s Eastern Province which will be powered by a 10 kWp solar photovoltaic system that will run appliances serving 10 local entrepreneurs and international service providers.
SKS and EAP plan to set up 69 “The Pulse” centres across Rwanda.
Beyond access to electricity, these solutions are expected to have an impact on the socio-economic development of rural Rwanda where 56% of the population still do not have access to electricity according to Power Africa.
“Based on the encouraging data and the plans made from it, we are convinced that The pulse will become a pan-African success story, benefiting isolated rural populations all over Africa,” says Thomas Rieger, CEO of Solarkiosk.