Innovation

Mahlaseli Energy provides solar power systems, electrical supplies, and installation services, water supply solutions, and powertools rental.

The hub of their enterprise is an innovation called Solar PayGo—a solar energy system that, thanks to an affordable payment plan, is accessible to low-income households and has proven reliability.  The real-time remote monitoring process and very low payment options makes it incredibly trustworthy and accessible to users.

Achieving all this through sustainable means instead of further depleting natural resources and playing a role in harming our planet? That's a seemingly small action that contributes greatly to the future of fighting climate change.

The firm has made itself a neighbourhood champion for multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include:

1. SDG4: Connected 300 rural children lacking access to electricity in Mokhotlong, Leribe and Qacha's Nek districts.

2. SDG5: 15 women sales agents in the rural communities impacting 75 people

3. SDG6: Over 10+ water supply systems installed Under Rural water supply, impacting 15000 people

4. SDG7: Over 100 solutions installed Impacting 500 people. Over 50 Solar Pay-Go Solutions Installed Impacting 250 People

5. SDG8: 30 employees (20 Permanent and 10 Casual) impacting 150 People

6. SDG13: Reducing 2013t CO₂eq. per annum

Inspiration

The company was founded by a young couple, Mrs Matsepiso Majoro and Mr Taki Majoro, starting small and quickly gaining traction. Mrs Matsepiso stated, in interview, how the idea for this business is not something she always had. Rather, it originated from the need to solve a persistent problem in her community. 

Living and growing up in Lesotho, she witnessed the inequalities brought on by having no access to electricity and clean water. Rural community clinics cannot function fully without a power source or clean water, posing a serious health risk for those with no means to travel elsewhere. Students are unable to study after dark and having no access to educational technology that other students benefit from and in turn the inequality is sustained. 

Despite Lesotho having a number of hydroelectric plants, rural communities often with low income are unable to gain access to these basic necessities. They saw the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions in Lesotho, especially in rural areas that are often overlooked. 

Evidently, founders started the company with a desire to empower communities and eliminate energy poverty. Their vision for the company goes beyond just providing energy. They aim to create jobs and opportunities for young people and women that will lead to irreversible progress in the inclusive economic growth of Lesotho.

Overall impact

Since its establishment, Mahlaseli Energy has had an impressive impact on society, notably through: 

• Deploying more than 300 solar electric and thermal solutions, with 50 of them being SolarPayGo systems to low-income areas, meaning that over 300 households have newly gained access to affordable electricity (SDG 7: affordable and clean energy).
• 15 female sales agents in rural communities have been employed, empowering local women and giving them access to decent employment (SDG 5: gender equality and SDG 8: decent work and economic growth).
• More than 10 water supply systems benefit over 15,000 people giving them access to clean water ending relience on untreated water from rivers and lakes (SDG 6: clean water and sanitation).
• Mahlaseli Energy lowers CO₂ emissions by about 2,013 tons each year, tackling the greenhouse emission problem in the area (SDG 13: climate action)

Business benefit

The innovative way that Mahlaseli Energy has approached its work has not only taken on several vital social and environmental challenges—such as electricity access, energy poverty, dependency on firewood, and the like—but has also created a very sustainable business model that is earning them a loyal customer base. Most of their customers are using their services to pay for off-grid electricity systems that Mahlaseli has installed for them. And these customers form a very loyal customer base.

Social and environmental benefit

The Majoro's vision is lucid: to provide electrification to 50% of Lesotho's rural populace, ensuring that clean, reliable energy is available to every household. This ambition though, is not solely about infrastructure, it's also about community upliftment, educational empowerment, which catalyzes economic growth. 

One of the most important aspects of Mahlaseli Energy's mission is youth empowerment. Recognizing that the youth are Lesotho's most valuable asset, Mrs Majoro actively recruits recent graduates and even current students to provide them with hands-on experience in the renewable energy sector. "Many companies overlook fresh graduates due to their lack of experience," she remarks. "But how can they gain experience if no one gives them a chance?" By integrating young professionals into her team, she not only nurtures talent but also bridges the gap between education and employment.

Mahlaseli Energy bases its operations on gender equality, powering them not with men but with a 50% female workforce. That’s half of a company that has sent 15 women—female sales agents—into rural Southern Africa to electrify homes, and whose work impacts 75 individuals, according to energy-sales training figures. Those numbers are incredible. But they say nothing of how incense stands for gender equality at Mahlaseli Energy. That charter promotes women in energy. It mitigates preposterously high rates of gender-based violence and it addresses early-child marriages. It’s not half a company respecting women.

These noble endeavors are faced with some challenges. "Training young recruits and stretching our operations over time and space takes money—a resource that's generally in short supply" she states. So, Mrs Majoro is actively doing what many nonprofit leaders do. Without forgetting an important aspect of a business which tends to be profit, she gently manages to have a balance between them by seeking partnerships with large and small organizations, like the European Union, that can help supply those resources. 

Mrs Majoro's work and appeal represent the approximate current state of what amounts to a deep and somewhat ancestral community-to-community network that serves both as empowerment and an intelligence path. 

Looking forward, Mahlaseli Energy intends to set up more stores in zero-service areas and construct a warehouse to bolster increased production. Job opportunities arising from these expansions will be aimed mostly at the youth and women, a target group identified by the UN as having very high rates of unemployment. Thus, Mahlaseli Energy is both directly and indirectly pursuing a growth strategy in Lesotho that is significantly more inclusive than average.

Interview

Matsepiso Majoro, MD, Cofounder