Skip to main content

Rwandan entrepreneur uses solar phone-charging carts to create jobs in Africa

Imagine owning a smartphone with no place to charge it. Rwanda native Henri Nyakarundi brought a micro-franchising model based on solar-powered phone-charging carts to his country. The carts encourage entrepreneurship and help people get their phones charged, as reported on CNN.

Nyakarundi’s family first fled Rwanda and later Burundi, finally ending up in the United States. He studied at Georgia State University majoring in computer science. An entrepreneur himself from his teens, Nyakarundi founded African Renewable Energy Distributor (ARED). Nyakarundi has designed several versions of solar-powered kiosks that can be towed by bicycles or pushed by hand and can charge up to 80 phones simultaneously.

Recommended Videos

According to the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority, while 70 percent of Rwandans own mobile phones, only 18 percent have access to electricity to charge them. Nyakarundi designed his mobile solar carts to address the need for easier access to phone charging and provide jobs at the same time.

Nyakarundi returned to Rwanda in 2012 to implement his plan. There are currently 25 solar kiosks in operation. In the ARED micro-franchise model, would-be entrepreneurs pay a $100 down payment and pay off $200 over time. Prospective franchisees have to be at least 25 years old and provide two letters of recommendation from community leaders.

Women and men with disabilities do not have to pay the franchise startup fees — they get the carts for free. “They are the most vulnerable group in Africa, especially in business,” said Nyakarundi. “Women don’t have access to funding the way men do, and people with disabilities have even less opportunity.”

Nyakarundi told CNN its current franchisees earn between $38 and $107 a month from their carts. In Rwanda, that income is sufficient to pay rent and feed a family. According to CNN, in addition to an approximately 1 percent commission on sales, ARED generates most of its revenue from advertising on the sides of the kiosks.

Ready now to expand, ARED’s new carts are designed to operate as mobile hot spots to provide internet access as well as phone charging. Nyakarundi also hopes to allow free internet access via the carts, again planning to generate revenue from companies that advertise, collect data, or submit surveys.

Nyakarundi and ARED developed with the support of “numerous energy innovation awards and grants from the likes of Microsoft,” according to CNN.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Read more
How to create a new team in Microsoft Teams
Example of Teams chat.

Few communication applications are as versatile as Microsoft Teams. Along with allowing you to send quick messages to teammates or launch a video chat, the software is fully integrated with Office 365 so you can optimize its performance. If you know how to use Microsoft Teams, you'll know that one of its most useful features is the ability to create a new team.

Knowing how to make a new team and how to properly organize teams makes it easy for a company to enhance productivity and streamline communication. When used effectively, Microsoft Teams is useful for both in-office and remote workers, ensuring everyone stays on the same page regardless of location.

Read more
How much is Microsoft Office?

The Microsoft Office app on PC.

Microsoft Office, or Microsoft 365 as it's known today, is the full suite of Microsoft work-related applications. It includes iconic programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as more modern additions like Teams and OneDrive. You can use a number of these for free in their web versions, or you can pay a monthly subscription to use their downloaded, local versions.

There is no single price for Microsoft 365, as it's only available on the software as a service (SAAS) model, but the monthly cost differs depending on whether you're a home user or business user, and whether you're looking to subscribe for just yourself, or an entire team.

Read more