Recently, the Swedish Embassy in Zambia hosted UNCDF and SupaMoto, the company developing renewable energies for home use, at a stakeholder’s meeting to discuss aspects of sustainable energy use for under-served people in Zambia.

SupaMoto makes a cookstove that burns a renewable fuel (sold as pellets) made from sawdust and other agricultural wastes as an alternative to charcoal. By using a mobile money payment system, the stoves are accessible to subscribers immediately for a small amount of money paid at intervals. The company also sells home lighting solutions that are available through mobile money pay-as-you-go.

SupaMoto's approach is one doorway to financial inclusion for many Zambians. The need for power can push formerly unbanked people to subscribe to mobile money accounts through which they can transact. This is one reason why UNCDF is supportive of all pay-as-you-go energy providers -- they provide a channel to increased energy access and financial inclusion, thereby creating a bridge for off-grid customers to unlock the potential of the digital economy.

SupaMoto’s model is to use agents to distribute and sell products nationwide. However, the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) and UNCDF's DFS State of the Industry 2018 Report revealed that while the number of agents went up by 108 percent from 2017, agent commissions went down by 16 percent. This means that agents might not increasingly succeed at earning reasonable incomes from providing DFS products. Partnerships may be an opportunity to solve this problem.

UNCDF Zambia's Regional Technical Specialist Nandini Harihareswara advised on how agent networks could make SupaMoto products more accessible to people in all parts of Zambia. "You may or may not want to manage your own agent network. There are, by our count, 11 active agent networks in the country. Have you considered partnering with them?” asked Ms Harihareswara.

By partnering with existing agent networks, SupaMoto, and other energy providers, can expand the accessibility of their products while the agents draw another revenue source and combat the trend exhibited in 2018.

UNCDF aims to facilitate such partnerships in order to increase the depth of financial inclusion in Zambia so people are able to improve their lives. Digital solutions to financial and energy problems will help many Zambians do so.