Powerstove

The problem

According to the World Bank, only 22 per cent of poor people in Nigeria are connected to the country’s electricity supply network. In 2021, the price of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas rose from $6.4 to about $12 within six months. Statistics from 2016 estimate that about half of Nigeria’s population live in urban areas where the urban poor depend on charcoal, kerosene, generator kiosks (cell-phone charging) and battery-powered torches for their energy needs. The rising energy costs have made basic energy unaffordable and has lowered spending power, especially among low-income households.

The company

Powerstove, produces and distributes a 100 per cent smokeless biomass cookstove that cooks food five times faster than local stoves, generates micro off-grid electricity to charge phones or power LED bulbs using the built-in USB and DC port, and uses pellets (wood waste) enabling users to save 70 per cent on their energy costs.

Project description

Powerstove will produce, sell and scale-up distribution of their cookstove units to urban poor families in Nigeria through a pay-as-you-cook model. Through technology developments, each cookstove’s usage will be monitored through IoT in order to enable users to earn from the carbon credits generated.

Founder and Co-founder

Okey Ibekwe Esse – Founder

Gloria Nkiruka Esse – Co-founder

Message from the Founder

“Powerstove’s vision of mixing social impact and profit will be greatly expanded with the recent funding from the GSMA, which will improve the economic livelihoods for families in urban communities enabling access to lifesaving clean energy products.”