D.light expands to Nigeria, unveils iMax 10 Solar System, finance solutions, others

A global leader in social transformation, d’light has officially launched into the Nigerian market with a promise to transform one billion lives globally by 2030.

Founded in 2007 by Ned Tozun a Canadian and Sam Goldman an American who met at Stanford Business School (SBS), d.light has operated in several markets globally like India, China and Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia in Africa before expanding to the Nigerian market with over 25 million sustainable products including solar lanterns, solar home systems, TVs, radios and smart phones sold globally in over 70 countries.

Speaking at the official country launch of the firm in Lagos, the Chairperson of the Board, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, restated the need to transform lives as the driving force of the d.light initiative.

She said: “The bottom line is that Nigeria does not have enough power generated as at now. And even if we have it, we do not have extensive distribution network to take power to the last man.’’ We are in Nigeria to transform Africa one community at a time.

In his opening remarks at the event, Co-founder and President of the company, Sam Goldman said: “The reality is that we are still so far from where we need to be in terms of our population and their needs.

“Hence our target market are the low income individuals and not just the rural communities, which is why the company adopts the ‘pay-as-you-go’ model. Access to sustainable energy will not be possible, except we resolve the funding problem.”

Also in his address, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ned Tozun stated that d.light has provided employment for over 6,000 people across Africa, adding: “Our target is lower income individuals. There is sun in the village and the cities, so when we just say a rural market, it is not. The guy who lives in Lagos, but doesn’t have a generator shouldn’t even use a generator if he can have a solar solution, because of environmental sustainability.

“So, when you think about all the ESG matters, you will encourage more people to use alternate sources of energy rather than polluting sources of energy and that helps everywhere; whether you are in the city or in the village. It is about lower income. What we’ve done is to think of the entire problem chain. First, innovate the product, two, deliver it to them at the most reasonable price and thirdly, make sure it’s affordable for them through pay-as-you-go.

“They don’t have to look for the capital to buy the products. They look for signing-up, proving they have the ability to pay weekly – they have different system from weekly, monthly and daily – are different options available and as customers increase their credibility ratio in terms of performance, they have the opportunity to get into more.”

The high point of the event was the official unveiling of the iMax 10 Solar Power System, an inverter battery system that could afford Nigerians the freedom to live their best lives.

Dignitaries at the official country launch include the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who gave his virtual goodwill message and Chief Executive Officer of HMD Global promoters of Nokia smart phones and strategic partners to d.light, Florian Seche, among others.